Information
Security
Dec 27, 2014
Gifts
weren't the only thing for sale this holiday season. The US Federal Trade
Commission is suing data brokers who knowingly sold personal information
without the owners' permission to fraudsters who used it for spamming,
telemarketing and other illegitimate purposes.
This is a growing business, as the gummed up online, email and social media accounts of anyone with internet access has realized by now.
Attempting to stop the practice is difficult, especially since so many of the perpetrators live and operate outside the country in which the fraud is being committed.
The government's action is a signal that more attention is going to be paid to data ownership and usage. This is good news - but it may carry with it some interesting and unintended outcomes for merchants and others who have been profiting from consumers' personal information with results that their customers may now want to share. JL
This is a growing business, as the gummed up online, email and social media accounts of anyone with internet access has realized by now.
Attempting to stop the practice is difficult, especially since so many of the perpetrators live and operate outside the country in which the fraud is being committed.
The government's action is a signal that more attention is going to be paid to data ownership and usage. This is good news - but it may carry with it some interesting and unintended outcomes for merchants and others who have been profiting from consumers' personal information with results that their customers may now want to share. JL
Read
more at: http://www.thelowdownblog.com/2014/12/us-government-sues-data-brokers-for.html
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