The head of the Senate Commerce Committee is pressing data brokers to disclose the names of their clients -- particularly ones who purchase lists that categorize people based on “financial
vulnerability” or “health status.”
“The existence of lists such as these underscores the importance of learning how data about consumers travels through the
industry,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said in a letter sent today to
Acxiom, Epsilon, Experian, Lexis Nexis, NextMark and MEDbase200.
Rockefeller is asking the companies to name all clients for the last five years. He is also specifically seeking information
about products that appear aimed at vulnerable populations.
“Data broker industry representatives assert that the compilation and sale of such data benefits consumers by facilitating
targeted outreach by retailers and others,” Rockefeller writes today. “However, privacy experts argue there are strong profit interests in using personal consumer data for purposes that do
not necessarily benefit consumers -- such as helping companies decide who should wait longer for customer service.”
In Experian's case, Rockefeller asks for information about ChoiceScore
customers. “Marketing materials for ChoiceScore advertise that it 'helps marketers identify and more effectively market to under-banked consumers,'” Rockefeller writes. “These
consumers include 'new legal immigrants, recent graduates, widows, those with a generation bias against the use of credit, followers of religions that historically have discouraged credit' and '
consumers with transitory lifestyles, such as military personnel.'”
The lawmaker goes on to ask for a list of all ChoiceScore customers for the last five years. He is also seeking
information about how those customers intended to use the data.
The letter comes around six weeks after Rockefeller said at a Commerce Committee hearing that he is “revolted” when data brokers offer to sell lists
of “genetic disease sufferers,” “payday loan responders” and other vulnerable groups.
At the December hearing, Rockefeller also criticized several of the largest data
brokers for refusing to answer questions about their clients. Experian senior vice president Tony Hadley publicly replied that the company considers its client list proprietary. Given that position,
it doesn't seem likely that the company -- or other data brokers -- will be all that eager to respond to the lawmaker's latest questions.