Welcome to the Data Brokers Project blog. This blog covers different facets of the data broker industry in Canada.
“Please Wait While We Predict Your Value”: Data Brokers and Fairness
2018-11-12
By Dustin Moores “We are experiencing a higher than normal volume of calls at this time. Please stay on the line to maintain your priority. We value your call. Your current wait time is approximately….” For many of us, messages like these are all too familiar. In my case, itRead More →
Custom Audiences & Unintended Consequences: How Misused Data Products Can Hurt Democracy
2018-11-09
By Dustin Moores Our third podcast explores some of the ways data brokers can impact democracy. As of early 2018, important details are emerging about how certain organizations used data gathered from data brokers combined with illegally obtained Facebook data to micro-target Americans with various messages during the 2016 U.S.Read More →
Boots that Stalk: How Data Brokers Can Affect the Ads You See Online
2018-11-08
by Dustin Moores “I don’t get it,” my wife said over the phone one blustery November afternoon, “why am I seeing ads for your boots on my work computer?” It was a great question, and the aspiring cyber-sleuth in me wanted nothing more than to find the answer. “Did youRead More →
Welcome to CIPPIC’s website for the Data Brokers Project.
2018-11-01
The Data Brokers Project follows up on CIPPIC’s 2006 study of the Canadian Data Brokerage industry. Data brokers, companies “whose primary business involves the trading and analysis of personal information,” are intimately familiar with the personal information of Canadian consumers, but are poorly understood by many consumers themselves. This industryRead More →