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Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

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Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#11

Post by mehrdadn »

pandabear187 wrote: post #3

I have insider knowledge as I used to work for one of these companies. Depending on the product you purchase the data comes from multiple sources. Also these companies have sophisticated machine learning capabilities to build a profile based on various attributes found in seemingly unrelated pieces of data. So the list consists of credit reporting agencies, public records, your online profiles with public access, cou…

Thank you for the reply. Can you actually give some kind of a list though? The entire problem here is everyone explains the how but no one is willing to explain the who. I certainly understand it's "multiple sources", I'm asking who are these sources I keep hearing about. There can't be nearly as many sources as there are sites who buy from them. If you'd like to not name the company you worked for yourself then could you at least please list as many other ones as possible? That would be far, far more helpful than just saying they use machine learning and that they use multiple sources, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#13

Post by codegeek »

mehrdadn wrote: post #9
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #7

Have you ever gone to the doctor, signed up for a gym, or signed up for your local grocery store's membership rewards program? That's how they get your information.

Uh, what? This doesn't explain a lot of the information I see on some of these sites. It only explains the basics like your address and phone number.

well, don't underestimate the idiotic forms that many doctor's offices (in the US) want you to fill. Almost every time, I have seen forms that ask for everything about you. Personal information, Social Security Numbers, Employer information, heck even salary (not kidding). I just don't fill those of course but I am sure many people just fill them out because it is on the form.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#14

Post by JoshTriplett »

If anyone reading this thread is interested: I would pay non-trivial amounts of money on a regular basis for a service that systematically worked to eliminate records like these (and the sources they draw from), as well as chasing down sources of junk mail and the lists they ultimately draw from.

The value would depend on effectiveness, and on the degree to which the service clearly reported exactly what they did. Calling and unsubscribing from sources of junk mail would be a moderate time-saver, but finding out where they got their names and addresses from and destroying those would be far more valuable.

It'd take some optimization and batching of the process to figure out how to avoid taking an excessive amount of time per person.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#15

Post by mehrdadn »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #14

If anyone reading this thread is interested: I would pay non-trivial amounts of money on a regular basis for a service that systematically worked to eliminate records like these (and the sources they draw from), as well as chasing down sources of junk mail and the lists they ultimately draw from. The value would depend on effectiveness, and on the degree to which the service clearly reported exactly what they did. Ca…

I've come across sites like these (SafeShepherd, though it doesn't claim to wipe your information from the "sources", only the sites they see your information on); the problem is I'm not sure I would trust them with something like my driver's license photo. Would you? Or what if they decide to sell your information behind your back later?

Edit: Maybe it was a different site that needed your license (I thought it was SafeShepherd but I can't find it anymore). I know I've definitely come across ones that do.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#16

Post by JoshTriplett »

mehrdadn wrote: post #15
JoshTriplett wrote: post #14

If anyone reading this thread is interested: I would pay non-trivial amounts of money on a regular basis for a service that systematically worked to eliminate records like these (and the sources they draw from), as well as chasing down sources of junk mail and the lists they ultimately draw from. The value would depend on effectiveness, and on the degree to which the service clearly reported exactly what they did. Ca…

I've come across sites like these (SafeShepherd, though it doesn't claim to wipe your information from the "sources", only the sites they see your information on); the problem is I'm not sure I would trust them with something like my driver's license photo. Would you? Or what if they decide to sell your information behind your back later? Edit: Maybe it was a different site that needed your license (I thought it was…

I wouldn't trust them with a driver's license (why would they even need that?), but I'd trust them with name/address/phone/email information, because that's the information that seems far too readily available already.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#17

Post by chrisgoman »

For pre-employment screening, we had court runners literally sitting through the courthouses going through paper records for each candidate on an "ad-hoc" basis. Some companies do this in a more organized fashion by having a person just data enter ALL the records (like in North Carolina if I recall) and since they had this data, we just bought the company.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#18

Post by mehrdadn »

codegeek wrote: post #13
mehrdadn wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, what? This doesn't explain a lot of the information I see on some of these sites. It only explains the basics like your address and phone number.

well, don't underestimate the idiotic forms that many doctor's offices (in the US) want you to fill. Almost every time, I have seen forms that ask for everything about you. Personal information, Social Security Numbers, Employer information, heck even salary (not kidding). I just don't fill those of course but I am sure many people just fill them out because it is on the form.

Again: I see information out there that doesn't fall in these categories. And again: even for the information that does, that still wouldn't tell me which companies are the main ones aggregating them and selling them off to other aggregators. That's what I'm trying to find out.

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#19

Post by jquast »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #14

If anyone reading this thread is interested: I would pay non-trivial amounts of money on a regular basis for a service that systematically worked to eliminate records like these (and the sources they draw from), as well as chasing down sources of junk mail and the lists they ultimately draw from. The value would depend on effectiveness, and on the degree to which the service clearly reported exactly what they did. Ca…

This service exists, I've used it, can vouch for it. https://www.abine.com/deleteme/landing.php

Re: Ask HN: Who really gives your personal info to Intelius, Instant Checkmate, etc?

#20

Post by blackbagboys »

mehrdadn wrote: post #11
pandabear187 wrote: post #3

I have insider knowledge as I used to work for one of these companies. Depending on the product you purchase the data comes from multiple sources. Also these companies have sophisticated machine learning capabilities to build a profile based on various attributes found in seemingly unrelated pieces of data. So the list consists of credit reporting agencies, public records, your online profiles with public access, cou…

Thank you for the reply. Can you actually give some kind of a list though? The entire problem here is everyone explains the how but no one is willing to explain the who . I certainly understand it's "multiple sources", I'm asking who are these sources I keep hearing about. There can't be nearly as many sources as there are sites who buy from them. If you'd like to not name the company you worked for yourself then cou…

There is no such public list. Most of these companies are privately held, their methods are trade secrets, and there is no real form of legal recourse. Your best bet would be to buy a book like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Internet-Eliminating-Personal-... and follow the recommendations, but even that is only likely to be half-effective.

Much of the public information is mined from sources like credit headers, your court records, utility bills, property and tax assessment records, voter registration lists, motor vehicle registrations, etc.

Unfortunately, the legal and technological landscape is such that 'hiding' from these kinds of services is effectively impossible.

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