Data Broker

A data broker is a company that collects personal information about individuals from many sources and sells or licenses it to other businesses.

Data brokers typically supply this data for advertising targeting, credit risk assessment, fraud detection, or marketing analytics. They aggregate information from public records, loyalty programs, website tracking, purchase history, and many other sources to build detailed consumer profiles. This practice is regulated in the US (CCPA), EU (GDPR), and other jurisdictions, which give consumers rights to access, correct, or delete their profiles.

Data brokers are distinct from data providers that deal in non-personal, publicly accessible data (like property listings or product prices). The distinction matters legally - consumer profile data carries strict compliance obligations that pricing or listing data does not. Understand which category your data supplier falls into.