Broker Breakdown

Now that we’ve introduced Data Brokers to you and affirmed the criticisms pertaining to them, I’m going to show you what one of the Data Broker company execs has to say about his company and industry at large. Then I’m going to tell you why he’s wrong.

Brian Kennedy, CEO of Epsilon Data Management was featured in the 60 Minutes segment, The Data Brokers.  Epsilon claims to have the world’s largest working database and is a leader in their field. During his interview, Brian made various statements regarding regulation, consumers, and the Internet as a whole.
Mr. Kennedy states that he “see[s] no need for more oversight or regulation in one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy.” Honestly, I couldn’t disagree more.  What harm would regulation do? Kennedy likely thinks that regulation will harm data collection companies.  Restrictions on collection and use of data can only cost them money  and likely force them to stop performing some of their more unsavory business practices. It would protect consumers and users and allow for them to use the internet without fearing every site they visit being tacked on to their dossiers. The point of the matter is this: there is great need for regulations to protect consumers from data broker companies. The government is not in place to assist with a company’s bottom line, or to make it easier for it to operate at maximum profit. The government exists to provide checks on institutions so that the little guy (that would be us, by the way) don’t get bulldozed over. What makes Kennedy’s claim truly egregious is the fact that this “sector of the economy” he’s talking about is collecting and selling private information about people.

Mr.Kennedy also stated that he thought “self regulation [had] been very effective.” Well…of course the CEO of a Data Broker company would find self-regulation effective. That’s like putting a bunch of toddlers in a room full of candy and expecting them to self-regulate. We all know they’d rush in and take everything they could get their greedy little hands on and that fact stands true for Kennedy and his fellow Data Broker execs.

Everyone has their own opinion about what the internet is.  Kennedy wants you to know “that consumers need to understand that the internet is an advertising medium.”  This is rather ridiculous. The internet is plagued by advertising; there’s a reason people install applications like ad-block that remove all ads from their browsing experience. People do not like ads. People do not use the internet to view ads, and advertising should certainly not be considered some kind of inherent backbone to the internet. The internet has so many incredible, wonderful uses, and advertising is like the bacterial growth feeding on the internet’s underbelly. It’s inane to even make a claim like that, and it’s down right disturbing that he seemed to really believe it.

What’s so hilariously ironic about all of this is that Kennedy goes on to claim that he doesn’t put information about himself online ,”and I am a consumer like you are.” I really love how the Data Broker company CEO is saying that he doesn’t participate in the overarching online activity that makes his company even possible.

Sorry buddy, but even cigarette executives smoke.