Lock and Code
Malwarebytes
Categories: Technology
Listen to the last episode:
On the internet, you can be shown an online ad because of your age, your address, your purchase history, your politics, your religion, and even your likelihood of having cancer.
This is because of the largely unchecked “data broker” industry.
Data brokers are analytics and marketing companies that collect every conceivable data point that exists about you, packaging it all into profiles that other companies use when deciding who should see their advertisements.
Have a new mortgage? There are data brokers that collect that information and then sell it to advertisers who believe new homeowners are the perfect demographic to purchase, say, furniture, dining sets, or other home goods. Bought a new car? There are data brokers that collect all sorts of driving information directly from car manufacturers—including the direction you’re driving, your car’s gas tank status, its speed, and its location—because some unknown data model said somewhere that, perhaps, car drivers in certain states who are prone to speeding might be more likely to buy one type of product compared to another.
This is just a glimpse of what is happening to essentially every single adult who uses the Internet today.
So much of the information that people would never divulge to a stranger—like their addresses, phone numbers, criminal records, and mortgage payments—is collected away from view by thousands of data brokers. And while these companies know so much about people, the public at large likely know very little in return.
Today, on the Lock and Code podcast with host David Ruiz, we speak with Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel with the ACLU, about how data brokers collect their information, what data points are off-limits (if any), and how people can protect their sensitive information, along with the harms that come from unchecked data broker activity—beyond just targeted advertising.
“We’re seeing data that’s been purchased from data brokers used to make decisions about who gets a house, who gets an employment opportunity, who is offered credit, who is considered for admission into a university.”
Tune in today.
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Show notes and credits:
Intro Music: “Spellbound” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music: “Good God” by Wowa (unminus.com)
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Previous episodes
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119 - This industry profits from knowing you have cancer, explains Cody Venzke Sun, 20 Oct 2024 - 0h
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118 - Exposing the Facebook funeral livestream scam Sun, 06 Oct 2024 - 0h
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117 - San Francisco’s fight against deepfake porn, with City Attorney David Chiu Sun, 22 Sep 2024 - 0h
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116 - What the arrest of Telegram's CEO means, with Eva Galperin Sun, 08 Sep 2024 - 0h
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115 - Move over malware: Why one teen is more worried about AI (re-air) Sun, 25 Aug 2024 - 0h
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114 - AI girlfriends want to know all about you. So might ChatGPT Sun, 11 Aug 2024 - 0h
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113 - SIEM is not storage, with Jess Dodson Sun, 28 Jul 2024 - 0h
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112 - How an AI “artist” stole a woman’s face, with Ali Diamond Sun, 14 Jul 2024 - 0h
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111 - Busted for book club? Why cops want to see what you’re reading, with Sarah Lamdan Sun, 30 Jun 2024 - 0h
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110 - (Almost) everything you always wanted to know about cybersecurity, but were too afraid to ask, with Tjitske de Vries Sun, 16 Jun 2024 - 0h
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109 - 800 arrests, 40 tons of drugs, and one backdoor, or what a phone startup gave the FBI, with Joseph Cox Sun, 02 Jun 2024 - 0h
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108 - Your vacation, reservations, and online dates, now chosen by AI Sun, 19 May 2024 - 0h
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107 - "No social media 'til 16," and other fixes for a teen mental health crisis, with Dr. Jean Twenge Sun, 05 May 2024 - 0h
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106 - Picking fights and gaining rights, with Justin Brookman Sun, 21 Apr 2024 - 0h
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105 - Porn panic imperils privacy online, with Alec Muffett (re-air) Sun, 07 Apr 2024 - 0h
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104 - Securing your home network is long, tiresome, and entirely worth it, with Carey Parker Sun, 24 Mar 2024 - 0h
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103 - Going viral shouldn't lead to bomb threats, with Leigh Honeywell Sun, 10 Mar 2024 - 0h
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102 - How to make a fake ID online, with Joseph Cox Sun, 25 Feb 2024 - 0h
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101 - If only you had to worry about malware, with Jason Haddix Sun, 11 Feb 2024 - 0h
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100 - Bruce Schneier predicts a future of AI-powered mass spying Sun, 28 Jan 2024 - 0h
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99 - A true tale of virtual kidnapping Sun, 14 Jan 2024 - 0h
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98 - DNA data deserves better, with Suzanne Bernstein Sun, 31 Dec 2023 - 0h
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97 - Meet the entirely legal, iPhone-crashing device: the Flipper Zero Sun, 17 Dec 2023 - 0h
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96 - Why a ransomware gang tattled on its victim, with Allan Liska Sun, 03 Dec 2023 - 0h
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95 - Defeating Little Brother requires a new outlook on privacy Sun, 05 Nov 2023 - 0h
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94 - MGM attack is too late a wake-up call for businesses, says James Fair Sun, 22 Oct 2023 - 0h
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93 - AI sneak attacks, location spying, and definitely not malware, or, what one teenager fears online Sun, 08 Oct 2023 - 0h
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92 - What does a car need to know about your sex life? Sun, 24 Sep 2023 - 0h
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91 - Re-air: What teenagers face growing up online Sun, 10 Sep 2023 - 0h
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90 - "An influx of Elons," a hospital visit, and magic men: Becky Holmes shares more romance scams Sun, 27 Aug 2023 - 0h
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89 - A new type of "freedom," or, tracking children with AirTags, with Heather Kelly Sun, 13 Aug 2023 - 0h
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88 - How Apple fixed what Microsoft hasn't, with Thomas Reed Sun, 30 Jul 2023 - 0h
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87 - Spy vs. spy: Exploring the LetMeSpy hack, with maia arson crimew Sun, 16 Jul 2023 - 0h
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86 - Of sharks, surveillance, and spied-on emails: This is Section 702, with Matthew Guariglia Sun, 02 Jul 2023 - 0h
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85 - Why businesses need a disinformation defense plan, with Lisa Kaplan: Lock and Code S04E13 Sun, 18 Jun 2023 - 0h
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84 - Trusting AI not to lie: The cost of truth Sun, 04 Jun 2023 - 0h
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83 - Identity crisis: How an anti-porn crusade could jam the Internet, featuring Alec Muffett Sun, 21 May 2023 - 0h
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82 - The rise of "Franken-ransomware," with Allan Liska Sun, 07 May 2023 - 0h
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81 - Removing the human: When should AI be used in emotional crisis? Sun, 23 Apr 2023 - 0h
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80 - How the cops buy a "God view" of your location data, with Bennett Cyphers Sun, 09 Apr 2023 - 0h
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79 - Solving the password’s hardest problem with passkeys, featuring Anna Pobletts Sun, 26 Mar 2023 - 0h
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78 - "Brad Pitt," a still body, ketchup, and a knife, or the best trick ever played on a romance scammer, with Becky Holmes Sun, 12 Mar 2023 - 0h
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77 - Fighting censorship online, or, encryption’s latest surprise use-case, with Mallory Knodel Sun, 26 Feb 2023 - 0h
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76 - What is AI ”good” at (and what the heck is it, actually), with Josh Saxe Sun, 12 Feb 2023 - 0h
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75 - A private moment, caught by a Roomba, ended up on Facebook. Eileen Guo explains how Sun, 29 Jan 2023 - 0h
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74 - Fighting tech’s gender gap with TracketPacer Sun, 15 Jan 2023 - 0h
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73 - Why does technology no longer excite? Sat, 31 Dec 2022 - 0h
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72 - Chasing cryptocurrency through cyberspace, with Brian Carter Sun, 18 Dec 2022 - 0h
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71 - Security advisories are falling short. Here’s why, with Dustin Childs Sun, 04 Dec 2022 - 0h
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70 - Threat hunting: How MDR secures your business Sun, 20 Nov 2022 - 0h