I’d like a definitive list which contains the source for each piece of data, the means that source acquired it, when they acquired it, and proof of my consent for it to be collected, stored, and sold to other parties who then sell it off to the highest bidder.
“It came from teleco companies” is not due diligence enough for me, and it shouldn’t be for you. That answer isn’t an answer and the lack of accountability is how the companies continue to violate our right to privacy and flourish.
> “It came from teleco companies” is not due diligence enough for
I never claimed this. I replied to the question about how a telecom provider would have PII. My mobile provider knows my legal name and other details. They obviously know which tower is closest to my phone at all times or my phone would not work. That it is terrible of them to sell this data was not in question.
Your cell phone company knows your name, address, and can infer where you've been based on the cell towers your phone checks in with. So that one's a given.
Here's a sampling of others:
Mastercard sells information on your purchases.[^1] (Based on the info Oracle had on me, I suspect they might be one of the sources for Oracle Advertising.[^2])
Equifax, who gets information from your bank, your car insurance company, your cable company, and loads of other places, makes a nice profit off selling your info.[^3][^4]
ISPs know who you are, can infer a lot about you from unencrypted DNS queries and HTTPS SNI snooping, and they're happy to sell information about you.[^5]
Then there are several tiers of companies that buy information from various other companies, aggregate it, and then sell that off. A veritable snowball rolling down a hill of privacy violation.
Just to clarify my point I’m not condoning this at all, but the telcos themselves have been selling live location data of their subscribers to aggregator services for years.
It’s really infuriating to me that people say Google or Facebook are “selling their data” (they’re not, they hoard data and sell targeted ads) when Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T literally sell your live, personally identifiable, non-aggregated, location data to third parties, hiding behind their subscriber agreement legalese.
