So, this is probably naive of me, but so far I haven’t really been able to find the answer on the web.
Recently I subscribed to a personal info removal company called Incogni, only to find out that they sent a staggering 123 removal requests on my behalf. I never imagined there were that many companies in that business. So far in 20 days, 70 requests have been fulfilled, but 53 are still pending.
Which made me wonder… given my personal data seems to be sold, re-sold and re-re-sold without my express consent, or ability to opt out… if I knew I’ve informed my legit service providers, plus those I have legit obligations to (employer, state, etc.)… how easy would it be to obfuscate it on a regular basis, by simply providing a new, creative address, to entities I don’t get mail communication, or deliveries, from?
So, has anyone tried to trace the map by which a new address, cell phone number, etc. makes its way through the 123 or so data brokers? What are the ‘input nodes’ to that graph?
What makes you think your data has even been sold at all? Most likely a majority of those companies are just resellers of TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian. The 3 big credit bureaus. So while incogni sent then requests the smaller companies may host no data of yours, just the other 3.
Money is clearly being made using our personal aggregated data. Search for “data brokerage market”, and you’ll stumble upon articles and PR along the lines of “Data Brokers Market Estimated to Reach US$ 462.4 billion by 2031”, for example: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/08/01/2489563/0/en/Data-Brokers-Market-Estimated-to-Reach-US-462-4-billion-by-2031-TMR-Report.html
I’m aware that money is made. Most of the time companies are buying API feeds of data from the big 3. So unless someone specifically looked you up, then I am saying your data is probably just sitting in their databases.