Ethical Hacking News
Data Brokers Face New Pressure for Hiding Opt-Out Pages From Google
At least 35 data brokers hide opt-out pages from search results, making it difficult for individuals to exercise their right to privacy online. US Senator Maggie Hassan is pressing these companies to explain their practices and pledge to improve access to privacy controls. Data brokers collect and sell vast amounts of personal information, which can put survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking at risk. The industry's lack of transparency and regulation has led to a "predatory abuse of consumers' data", according to advocacy groups. New pressure on the sector includes proposals to limit the collection and sale of Americans' data, as well as a centralized marketplace to streamline purchases of commercially available data.
Data brokers are under intense scrutiny from lawmakers and advocacy groups over their practices of hiding opt-out pages from search results, making it difficult for individuals to exercise their right to privacy online. The investigation by The Markup/CalMatters and copublished by WIRED found that at least 35 firms hid this information from view, including top data brokers such as IQVIA Digital, Comscore, Telesign Corporation, 6sense Insights, and Findem.
The situation has come to the attention of US Senator Maggie Hassan, who is pressing these companies to explain their practices and pledge to improve access to privacy controls. In a letter to the companies, Hassan demanded that each firm justify the placement of its opt-out pages; acknowledge whether they used code to block search indexing and, if so, against how many users; pledge to remove any such code by September 3; and provide Congress with recent audit results and steps taken since the investigation, if any, to improve user access.
The concern surrounding data brokers is not new. The industry has been criticized for fueling a multibillion-dollar surveillance ecosystem that trades in detailed personal information often gathered without a person's knowledge or consent. These firms compile sprawling dossiers packed with precise location histories, political leanings, and religious affiliations, then sell and resell those profiles, powering everything from hyper-targeted ads to law-enforcement surveillance.
The risks of this industry are particularly acute for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence's Safety Net Project, data brokers collect and sell vast amounts of information that can put these individuals at risk. The project warns that opting out is already a burdensome, piecemeal process, forcing people to contact companies one by one, navigate hard-to-find forms, and resubmit deletion requests regularly as information is re-collected and re-listed.
Senator Hassan agrees that data brokers have a responsibility to make the tools that allow Americans to exercise their right to privacy easy to find and use. "Instead of requiring people to navigate byzantine labyrinths to protect their personal information, these companies have a responsibility to make the tools that allow Americans to exercise their right to privacy easy to find and use," she said.
Advocacy groups also point out that the industry is sustained by unchecked data flows, likening it to the knotted tails of a rat king. Sean Vitka, the executive director of Demand Progress, notes that "the damage done by data brokers manifests in countless ways," but it's all enabled by the same predatory abuse of consumers' data.
The situation highlights the need for greater regulation and transparency in the industry. The US government has recently added new pressure on this sector with proposals to limit the collection and sale of Americans' data, as well as a centralized marketplace to streamline purchases of commercially available data.
In other news, security researchers found two techniques to crack at least eight brands of electronic safes—used to secure everything from guns to narcotics—that are sold with Securam Prologic locks. This has raised concerns about the security of sensitive information in these devices.
Furthermore, Google announced that it will use AI to guess people's ages based on search history, sparking a privacy backlash over its new map feature. Meanwhile, hackers stole data from Google's customer support system, and the true scope of the Columbia University hack comes into focus.
Lastly, a security researcher discovered a misconfiguration that haunts corporate streaming platforms could expose sensitive data. The researcher also released a tool to find these flaws.
In conclusion, data brokers face new pressure for hiding opt-out pages from search results, which has sparked concerns about privacy and regulation. While there are efforts to limit the collection and sale of personal information, it remains to be seen whether these steps will be enough to address the industry's pervasive influence on our online lives.
Data Brokers Face New Pressure for Hiding Opt-Out Pages From Google
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Data-Brokers-Face-New-Pressure-for-Hiding-Opt-Out-Pages-From-Google-ehn.shtml
https://www.wired.com/story/hassan-data-broker-opt-out-letter/
https://www.wired.com/story/data-brokers-hiding-opt-out-pages-google-search/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/data-brokers-caught-hiding-privacy-opt-out-pages-from-search-results/ar-AA1KsK7s
Published: Wed Aug 13 13:47:22 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
