My prosposed law for companies that profit off of selling our personal information

I happened to stumble upon www.peoplesmart.com and I ran a search for myself and saw that my personal information was for sale to any Tom, Dick, and Harry on the Internet.

I do not think that it is right that these companies can profit off of selling our personal information and we do not have a right to know who purchased it. It is bad enough that the information is there to begin with, but who is buying it? We deserve the right to know!

So even though it is probably a huge waste of my time, I started by writing a letter to my "representative" on a law that I feel should be passed regarding my grievance:

"I happened to be searching on Google.com looking for any information out there about myself that I do not want on the Internet. I thought I did a good job of protecting my information, but apparently I was not diligent enough in my efforts.

A lot of companies exist such as spokeo.com, intellius.com, peoplesmart.com, peekyou.com, and many more that profit off of selling peoples personal information unbeknownst to them. I think this practice is very scrupulous and needs to have some regulation to it regarding peoples privacy. While I was able to go to these sites and opt-out and remove my information, I have no idea if anyone has purchased my information, who they are, nor their intent.

I believe that if these sites allow anyone on the Internet to purchase my information, that I should be informed of this purchase. I propose a law be passed that demands these companies to contact the person whose information is being sold with information of the person or entity who is purchasing the information and the reason why they are purchasing this information. Upon receipt of this information request, the person whose information is being sold can view the purchaser's information and the reason why they are requesting their information and make an informed decision whether or not the purchaser is allowed to have their information. The person whose information is being sold should be given a plainly stated opt-out clause within the contact period to further prevent their private information from being solicited by the said company if they so choose.

If a company is making a profit off of selling my information, I think I should be informed that they are profiting on my behalf and have a right to decline the purchase of my information. If the company argues that the information is "public record"; My retort would be that public record is freely available, such as the information on the tax assessors site, which I have no control over, and the tax assessors office is not profiting off of selling my personal information.

Agree or disagree?

I whole heartedly agree, we should at least have access to who purchased our info if anything. I also don't see why I need to pay to see MY information.

Oh don't forget this goodie when you go to purchase person X's info:

Your purchase is confidential. Person X will not be notified of your purchase.

9 times out of 10 it was YOU that authorized the dissemination of your information.

All that fine print at the bottom of every contract, and before every piece of software you agree to install or use...every app you download...etc. In that sea of verbiage lies the specific authorization to use your information.

Why not just dish out the death penalty

for excessive greed

spokeo.com, intellius.com, peoplesmart.com, peekyou.com

Unless you buy the information to see it you might be surprised at how little they really know and how much is wrong with the information they have.

I was approached by a salesman a investigative company that sold this type information back when i was the mine superintendent at a gold mine.

They would do a background check on potential new employees.

I talked the salesman into running me as a test.

There was nothing on there data base that i could not have found with a good internet search and running a police check in nevada.

There was a lot of stuff they did not know and some stuff i had seeded into versus places over the years that they fell for.

I know they had got a least one job application of mine because they had me working for a company that i formed but was not listed with me as owner.(Nevada corporation)
This was a simple way to hide breaks in employment and i even got phone calls asking if "i" would recommend this employee(me).

I would advise if you are looking for work to run yourself because they get people with the same names mixed up all the time and if someone has the same name and lives within 50 miles it can be very common.

Also people that are using your identity can cause problems even if they are not using it in ways that you would ever think of .
Not all identity thieves are trying to rip you off they may be getting credit in your name and paying there bill because you have lower interest rates or working under your name because they are felons and can not get a job under there own name.

Originally posted by Areyoupeopleinsane
9 times out of 10 it was YOU that authorized the dissemination of your information.

That is somewhat true. I know someone that worked at Lexis Nexis and they pretty much obtained some of their information from public record, and information as you said obtained from subscriptions and the like. My point is if they are going to profit off of my information that is public record, such as the value of my home, I should know about it and who wants to know and why.

reply to post by majesticgent


First, check you state law on permissions by you on letting someone taking your photos, or having them listen in on phone calls, or recording you, when you call an 800 number for service that company tells you it records for training proposes or quality assurence. now on the internet when third partys spam you. You should rite to the e-mail in question and tell them in that e-mail i do not give or ever gave them permission, to use your e-mail address or any information, keep a copy, in that e-mail tell them you will report them to your lawyer, now if you use yahoo, in your inbox open any email and look for the full headers tab, click open it will show you where that email come from, the path from sender to you, use that address to opine and complain remember when you open into full header mode print it out or make a file folder in yahoo email, just give it name and move those emails in there remember let them know you know who they are and print or store them on a flash drive.