Canadian Government Executive - Volume 25 - Issue 03

20 / Canadian Government Executive // August/September 2019 DIGITAL By Howard Dawson Who are the People Buying Your Digital Data? What’s for sale? Who’s buying? And what can you do about it? For a few years now, there’s been a throw- away metaphor bounced around various industries and publications; “Data is the new oil”. In reality, the metaphor doesn’t quite work; oil’s tangible asset that’s trad- ed openly between bespoke-suit clad city- types – you could even link your savings to its value if you tried. Ironically, oil is clean – and while the companies that are built on your data may well trade on the TSX, it can be ar- gued that the buying and selling of your individual data is anything but. Debate rages on about whether or not the world is ready for the avalanche of data that’s being collected by companies and governments each day – but, regu- lated or otherwise, clean or murky, data is swapping hands for enormous amounts of money. Chances are, some of your infor- mation’s in there too. What are data brokers? The term ‘data broker’ sounds above board – and, generally, they’re operating within the law. In fact, there are data brokers op- erating for some of the biggest software and tech companies in the world – Data- logix for instance. Companies like this create files on in- dividuals based on behaviour that’s seen through other companies, social media, internet service providers, banks, and so on. The number of people who access the internet using privacy browsers compared to those who use mainstream browsers is tiny – so there’s plenty of information out there to gather. These files are then used to help other companies fine-tune their marketing – targeting you based on age, in- come, geographical location, ethnicity, and a significant number of other characteris- tics. In soft terms, this part of marketing is about ‘knowing your audience’. Is this kind of data sharing dangerous? Well, it depends on your viewpoint. The companies buying these data aren’t going to steal your identity and take out a credit card – but they do find themselves with the ability to target you based on what they know about you. You don’t get to opt out