How to CRUSH DATA BROKERS with Rob Shavell from DeleteMe

How do data brokers work? How do they find your data? What can you do? A super insightful interview with Rob Shavell from Abine DeleteMe to offer an inside look into the data industry of people-searching sites.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introducing Rob
01:00 Defining 'people-searching websites'
04:12 Why do people-searching sites even exist?
06:06 How are people-searching sites different from phone books?
13:27 Where does all this data come from?
18:17 How do these sites correlate data to an individual?
22:04 How do people investigate themselves? Is this a wordwide problem?
25:05 The emotional, personal, and 'real' side of privacy
29:05 What options do people have to address the problem?
34:22 Covering preventative measures
36:38 Covering automatic profile deletion & services like DeleteMe
38:41 What's the scope of what DeleteMe deletes?
41:05 Is DeleteMe available outside of the US?
42:18 What's the long-term solution to this problem?
47:03 Does privacy regulation impact DeleteMe effectiveness?
49:52 The story behind Rob, privacy, and DeleteMe
53:17 Closing Words

References:

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[techlore]

Major thanks to Rob for coming on Techlore 🙏

[MalachiMarvin]

If I remember correctly, not only was the phone book opt out, you had to pay a fee to opt out. They called it an 'unlisted number'.

[redeyesdrogon]

This was a great interview. I hope to see more interviews like these in the future!

[maxmustermann]

Does anybody know how this applies to EU?

In the EU
- giving personal information to 3rd parties without consent is strictly prohibited
- we have a right to be forgotten

Are there such data broker companies in the EU and how should they receive data if I didn't gave my consent in cookie banner?
(Sure they could illegaly but that would shut down the company legally)

[j.g.]

To answer the question about how phone books (white pages) worked back in the day of landlines (NOT cell companies). You were defaulted in to your name (whoever name on the bill), address, and phone number to be listed in the white pages. This information was also available locally by call 411, or before that, O (the operator). It was possible, and easy, to request an unlisted number (meaning not in the white pages or 411), which was free until the 90s then depending on company could be around a $10 fee. Domestic abuse legislation also got attention in the 90s.

For most people the closest thing to the white pages being used for data purposes back in the day would be a local nonprofit using it to cold call for fundraising.

Then that information started becoming available to telemarketers in the late 90s, then we got the Do Not Call list. Which we still have, technically.

Just to add, privacy I the age of the operator and shared lines was unheard of, and everyone knew that. But it was hyper local, and you were in control what you did and didn't say.

[shayantsital]

The only issue i have is that it's not available in most countries outside of US

[Not_Your_Regular_News]

Ever notice how few views around these videos. Makes you wonder why

[drianAlba]

Data brokers will only “hide” the data when requested. They don’t actually delete it. When your subscription expires your data will reappear. FYI

[rwgreene]

In the 'old days' we had to pay to op-out of the phone book.

[JEdwardBanasikJr]

Being removed from the yearly printed "White Pages" residential phone book was not as simple as calling your phone company. You had to pay the equivalent in today's money of $10 a month for an unlisted number. People could still dial 411 and pay ($2.50 today) to get your phone number and address. Only a fool would have listed their cell phone number in the phone book back in the 90s if it was even an option. It was also $50 equiv a month for each service: Home phone number (caller-id extra), Internet (dial-up only) and Cell Phone (no free minutes at $1.75/minute for both incoming and outgoing calls). The only good thing back then was no company could afford to collect your data.

[accidentsafe]

My mom paid $5 a month to keep her name out of the phone book. Also gave her a private number.

[Globalpar]

Does Delete Me use the data broker registry listed on the Office of The Attorney General's (OAG) website? Am I right to think that the Office of Attorney General forces all data brokers to register on the OAG website for each individual state?

[rwgreene]

I moved half way across the country. I used google street view extensively as well as google earth. I would go up and down the street, check the next blocks, check the view from Earth, before I would ever contact the real-estate people about a house. The moving company reviewed street view to make sure they could get their truck up to the house. The tree trimming people reviewed street view to determine if it was worthwhile coming out to make an estimate. If you managed to block street views, then you are blocking potential sales ability and work contracts.

The real thing to do is block private information and project public information.

[lister]

Is there going to be an arken tutorial?

[quickmythril]

the phone book conversation is a bit off here. they did have names, addresses and numbers. yes they required you to ask to be unlisted, but it was a very easy thing to do. no one considered that extreme. and you CAN still get calls. several times you make it sound like an unlisted number is practically disconnecting your line. no, you can get calls from anyone you give your number to. it just wasn't public.

[Jzombi]

i searched on multiple different search engines using a bunch of different search terms but i couldn’t find any information about me. i did find stuff about my mom. i looked on whitepages and searched many different variations of my name and my phone number and address but i still couldn't find myself. i know im not invisible but i did delete nearly all my social media and changed my name on the ones that i kept. but i still feel like i should've found something, especially with my phone number and address. am i doing something wrong? is it normally this hard to find information about yourself?

[Real-Name..Maqavoy]

*DeleteMe* Only exists in US (where the servers are located)

None of The Suggestion you just *Provided* applies - For the rest.

[hamzah]

Some of this stuff in inaccurate. The vast majority of the data on people search websites comes from you and services you sign up for. For example, if you go and get a bank account or sign up for some order with your true name, address, phone number etc. When you give that info to your bank or a service, they sell that information to marketing companies and data aggregators like Lexis Nexis, CLEAR, etc. Many of these people search sites just buy the data from these guys, or source them from leaks. I don't believe much of it comes from social media sites,

[mukkaar]

Third party sharing of information is really the most problematic part, and ofc just internal security of the service you are using in first place.
But third party sharing just doesn't make sense, if data is shared with third party, what about their terms of service? Or what about one after that if third party shares it? Customer didn't agree to those.

I mean terms of service is kinda shaky subject anyways, but at very least customer should shown every single third party service they share data with and made to agree with sharing of data and possibly terms of service for those. And possibly ones after that.

If that's too hard, they could just not share anything.

[c-LAW]

Isn't DeleteMe a data broker since they also collect all your personal information to battle tech companies who collect all your personal information?