"They Rated and Sold My Personal Information"...A Look Inside the Data Trade Acquired by Major U.S. Corporations

Scores Assigned for "Lifetime Value" Used for Credit Assessments
U.S. Data Brokers Categorize Consumers into 3,000 Criteria

What happens to the digital traces left behind when you shop online or sign up for services? These traces are actively traded in the vast global data market.

Graphic created to aid in understanding the article. The Asia Business Daily

A recent analysis of major data brokers' personal information files by American consumer groups revealed that over 3,000 individual data points regarding consumers are being collected, ranging from body weight and drinking habits to medical information.

What is particularly alarming is that the information collected in this manner is allegedly used by data brokers to rate and assign a "lifetime value" score to each consumer, which is then sold to companies.

Segmented into 3,000 Categories... and a 'Lifetime Value' Score Assigned

According to a joint investigation by Consumer Reports and CalMatters released on September 16 (local time), data brokers form a massive market by collecting consumers' personal information and selling it to corporations.

Axiom USA logo. Axiom website

Axiom headquarters located in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. It is a major American data broker and data marketing company that collects, analyzes, and sells consumer and corporate data worldwide. NYT

Acxiom, a leading American data broker, possesses data on billions of people worldwide—not only residential information and consumer patterns, but also political inclinations, body weight, and even potential medical procedures of interest.

In fact, according to analysis of documents obtained by Consumer Reports, a single resident's collected profile spanned as many as 58 pages. Based on the information it gathers, Acxiom has created more than 3,000 categories related to financial life and behavioral patterns. These categories include basic details such as income and occupation, as well as sensitive health and financial status indicators, including body mass index (BMI), whether an individual has a primary care physician, and their ability to pay medical bills.

A consumer shopping. Shutterstock

Consumers are even assigned a "lifetime value score," estimating the potential profit each person could generate for companies in the future. Chances of responding to student loan repayment reminders, likelihood of undergoing cervical cancer screenings, and probability of owning certain car models—all these factors are scored on a scale from 0 to 100. In sectors such as automotive and insurance, higher scores classify individuals as high-value, profitable customers.

From Disney to American Express... Major Corporations Line Up to Buy Data

Such processed information is sold to over 100 companies, including insurance firms, banks, pharmaceutical companies, and retailers. These corporations use the data to further segment consumers and employ it for personalized marketing.

In fact, the list of companies purchasing personal information includes major financial, distribution, and entertainment organizations such as American Express, Southwest Airlines, T-Mobile, MLB.com, Citibank, The Walt Disney Company, Chase Bank’s Manhattan branch, Fidelity, CVS Pharmacy, and State Farm.

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Experts warn that if this collected and traded personal information is abused in decisions about loans, insurance, or employment screening, it could have devastating consequences for vulnerable populations. In particular, while medical data protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is regulated, sensitive information collected via data brokers exists within a regulatory blind spot.

Acxiom has stated, "All data is collected ethically and used responsibly," explaining that health-related categories reflect only a person's "level of interest" in such information, not the presence of a disease. The company also emphasized that, by law, companies purchasing the data cannot use it for setting credit or insurance prices.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.