brokers

Data broker Acxiom to reveal what it knows about you

Consumer data broker Acxiom plans to introduce a service that will reveal to people what it knows about them, according to a Financial Times report.

The company, which is based in Little Rock, Ark., bills itself as an enterprise data, analytics, and software-as-a-service company. It serves 47 of the Fortune 100 companies, more than 7,000 in all, and counts more than a trillion data transactions each week from 700 million consumers worldwide.

Even though the company probably has a file on you, that data has never before been available to you. The FT's Emily Steel reports that, in … Read more

FTC stops short of calling for new 'Do Not Track' law

The Federal Trade Commission this morning released a wide-ranging report that stops short of endorsing a new "Do Not Track" law.

This morning's 120-page report instead asks Congress to enact a new law that "would provide consumers with access to information about them held by a data broker" such as Lexis Nexis, US Search, or Reed Elsevier subsidiary Choicepoint -- many of which have been the subject of FTC enforcement actions in the last few years.

But when it comes to a Do Not Track law targeting Web companies, which was proposed by legislation introduced last year, … Read more

In the world of Big Data, privacy invasion is the business model

Recent weeks have seen a lot of (overdue) talk about privacy and technology. There was the flap over Path and other mobile apps uploading your phone's address books to their servers without your permission. A follow-up story noted apps might be able to slurp up photos and their location data on iOS, too.

There was the discovery that Google overrode some cookie settings in Safari in order to track users for ad serving. And Congress is still figuring out a response to last fall's concerns over software on phones that could share your location or other data without … Read more

Audi R8 V10 stretch limo is the first sign of imminent apocalypse

If you needed proof that the world will come to an end in 2012, just know that this will be the year that someone actually builds a stretch limo variant of the Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro.

Commissioned by Limo Broker and currently in production by Carbonyte UK, the formerly two-seater Audi R8 will be stretched to accommodate six more sport bucket seats, bringing the total passenger count to eight. When it is completed, the right-hand-drive vehicle will see service in Limo Broker's fleet, which also includes a stretch Ferrari 360 Modena, in the U.K. sometime later … Read more

Homebuyer's best friend

A home is often one of the biggest purchases you will ever make, so it goes without saying that buying a home can be a really stressful undertaking. That's why it's important to go into it fully prepared. Mortgage+Care Loan Calculator offers just the right amount of tools to help you calculate your monthly payments for mortgages and other major purchases.

This program's user interface is as basic as it gets. A small window that acts as the main menu appears with different calculation tools: Payment Calculator, Amortization Schedule (it's misspelled on the menu; a … Read more

How to: Take back your privacy from data brokers

Data brokers, data harvesters, people finders: whatever you call them, they roll up a huge amount of real and deduced information about you to create a dossier on your life that anyone can buy or even browse for free. While the nuggets of information about you are already out there, the way these sites aggregate it makes a lot of people feel very invaded. Watch this video to see how you can opt out, to a degree, then use the links below to start taking back your privacy.

Opt-out tools:

Spokeo PeopleSmart Pipl Peek You (e-mail link): Include the PeekYou.… Read more

FanSnap--another way to find cheap concert tickets

Tuesday's post on using Craigslist to buy secondhand concert tickets drew a response from a company called FanSnap, which uses live feeds to aggregate ticket listings from online marketplaces and broker sites (such as StubHub and TicketNetwork) and eBay auctions.

FanSnap would argue Craigslist is fine for price-sensitive fans who don't need to go to a particular show and who are willing to meet and negotiate with other individuals, pay cash where necessary, and run the risk of buying a fake ticket. (Although the only time I've ever seen a fake concert ticket was in 1989 on … Read more

HealthCare.com buys health insurance ad network

HealthCare.com, an online directory of health care providers that competes in the so-called health 2.0 space with companies such as OrganizedWisdom, announced on Thursday that it has acquired BrokersWeb, a targeted, performance-based online-advertising firm that caters to health insurance brokers, for an undisclosed sum. With the acquisition, it gains control of BrokersWeb's consumer health insurance search engine, Health Insurance Finders.

"The acquisition of BrokersWeb strengthens our presence and fits within HealthCare.com's mission to help consumers make better health care decisions," said Matias de Tezanos, founder and chief executive of HealthCare.com. "From … Read more