Walk through 8 everyday actions. Watch a data broker profile build itself in real time.
Your Data Broker Profile ID: #4829-XK
No data collected yet...
Action 1 of 8
You buy groceries with a loyalty card
You scan your Tesco Clubcard at checkout. You bought paracetamol, nappies, wine, and a pregnancy test.
Data Collected
Your purchase basket predicts life stage, health conditions, and disposable income with high accuracy. This data is sold to health insurers and pharmaceutical advertisers.
Action 2 of 8
You use a free weather app
You check the weather on a free app. Location permission was granted when you installed it.
Data Collected
Free weather apps are among the top location data sellers - some ping your GPS every 3 minutes and sell the feed to 47+ ad partners.
Action 3 of 8
You browse while still logged into Google
You search for "mortgage calculator," read an article about anxiety, and look at electric cars - all in the same session.
Data Collected
Browsing while logged into any Google product means your searches and visits are linked to your real identity. Google's ad profile currently covers over 5 billion people.
Action 4 of 8
You click a Facebook Like button on a news site
You click Like on a political opinion article. The button is powered by Meta's social plugin.
Data Collected
The Meta Pixel reports your visit to this page to Meta even if you did not click Like. Clicking it also attaches a political signal to your ad profile. Meta holds political inferences for 74% of active users.
Action 5 of 8
You connect to a free cafe Wi-Fi
You accept the terms of a shopping centre's free Wi-Fi to load email faster.
Data Collected
Many free Wi-Fi providers are data brokers. The terms you accepted allow them to track your device MAC address across their network and sell your physical movement patterns to retailers and insurers.
Action 6 of 8
You enter a prize competition form online
You fill in a form to win a holiday: name, email, phone, date of birth, and home address.
Data Collected
Many prize competitions exist solely to collect and sell PII. The "competition" may never award a prize. Your data is the prize. This profile now has your name, DOB, address, email, and phone number.
Action 7 of 8
You use a period-tracking app
You log a period in a health tracking app. The app's privacy policy includes a data-sharing clause with "research partners."
Data Collected
Period tracking apps have sold data to brokers including Facebook. Post-Dobbs, US law enforcement used menstrual tracking data in investigations - making this among the most sensitive data you generate.
Action 8 of 8
You apply for a store credit card
You apply for a store credit card to get 10% off your purchase. The application includes income and employment details.
Data Collected
Credit applications generate "soft inquiries" shared across credit reporting networks. Your income and employer are now linked to everything else in this profile.
Who holds your profile
Acxiom3,000+ attributes on you
LexisNexisLocation history, PII, financials
ExperianCredit, income, household
Oracle Data CloudBrowsing, purchase, health interests
EquifaxFinancial, employment, identity
Data broker Acxiom estimates it holds profiles on 2.5 billion people globally. You did not consent to this database. You were not told it exists. You can request removal - but re-collection starts immediately.