# The Ominous Realm of Data Brokers
If there were a contest for the most reprehensible business model, data brokers would rank very high. These organizations generate profits by purchasing personal data from application and website proprietors and reselling it to entities that seek to inundate us with spam.
Data brokers are entities that procure personal data from a diverse array of sources. A significant portion is collected from internet browsing habits and application use. The data is intended to be anonymized – meaning an individual purchasing the data could discern that you are, for instance, a 30-40 year old male residing in California who possesses an iPhone 15 Pro Max and frequently travels to Las Vegas, but could not identify you by your name specifically.
Nonetheless, numerous tests and studies have demonstrated that the breadth of data collected is so vast that it often becomes simple for purchasers to pinpoint specific individuals and even monitor sensitive details like US troop placements in combat zones. Location data, sold by many mobile application developers, makes this particularly straightforward; consider how many people depart from your home each morning to commute to your job, for example.
## Concealing Opt-Out Information from Search Engines
Not surprisingly for such a disreputable business, data brokers are not particularly well-known for adhering to the law. For instance, when various states have enacted privacy laws intended to curtail their operations, many have simply neglected to register. Hopes that federal regulations would confine their activities were dashed when the Trump administration abandoned plans to implement such measures.
A recent investigation led by US Senator Maggie Hassan has disclosed that no fewer than 35 data brokers have employed robots.txt files to direct search engines not to index their opt-out pages. The investigation uncovered numerous registered brokers concealing their opt-out mechanisms by rendering them invisible from Google and other search results. Consumer advocates labeled it a “clever workaround” that subverts privacy rights and may qualify as an unlawful dark pattern—a design choice that, according to California’s privacy regulator, diminishes consumer autonomy, decision-making, or choice when asserting their privacy rights or granting consent.
Hassan seeks that these firms explain the rationale behind the placement of their opt-out pages; disclose whether they utilized code to obstruct search indexing and, if so, on how many users; commit to eliminating any such code by September 3; and furnish Congress with recent audit findings and actions taken since the investigation, if any, to enhance user access.
