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Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database with 340M Records

wired.com

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Re: Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database with 340M Records

#14
When will this stop? When's the last straw? If I gave a bank 100 dollars, and they lost it, I'd have avenues with which to pursue some sort of justice. If I give a company my data, and they lose it, oh well. I wish all personal data was treated like HIPAA, at a minimum.

Re: Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database with 340M Records

#16
post #14

When will this stop? When's the last straw? If I gave a bank 100 dollars, and they lost it, I'd have avenues with which to pursue some sort of justice. If I give a company my data, and they lose it, oh well. I wish all personal data was treated like HIPAA, at a minimum.

> When will this stop? When's the last straw?

When the top folks in the US government are personally affected. Until then, "congressional hearings" and presidential ambivalence is the most action we'll get out of them. Most people don't really understand what the significance of these events are.

Re: Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database with 340M Records

#17
What is the source of this data?

Without more information I can only assume they are scraping public records just like sites like Spokeo etc. Perhaps with some data analysis thrown in.

So I don't see much of a personal concern; especially since their business model appears to be selling this very data!

Re: Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database with 340M Records

#18
> "I don’t know where the data is coming from, but it’s one of the most comprehensive collections I’ve ever seen"

> Each record contains entries that go far beyond contact information and public records to include more than 400 variables on a vast range of specific characteristics: whether the person smokes, their religion, whether they have dogs or cats, and interests as varied as scuba diving and plus-size apparel.

It might be "comprehensive" but is it comprehensive in a scary way? It's probably just 400 machine learning features that are estimating what people might like, so not necessarily super accurate?

Re: Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database with 340M Records

#20
post #14

When will this stop? When's the last straw? If I gave a bank 100 dollars, and they lost it, I'd have avenues with which to pursue some sort of justice. If I give a company my data, and they lose it, oh well. I wish all personal data was treated like HIPAA, at a minimum.

> When will this stop? When's the last straw? When the top folks in the US government are personally affected. Until then, "congressional hearings" and presidential ambivalence is the most action we'll get out of them. Most people don't really understand what the significance of these events are.

I hate the fact that I feel so small and insignificant because of the futility of speaking to a representative. I did try to contact Rand Paul last year. He never bothered to reply, but did add me to his mailing list. Great.
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