{"id":52330,"date":"2024-06-07T12:50:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T20:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/?page_id=52330"},"modified":"2025-02-19T11:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T19:26:11","slug":"what-is-a-data-broker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Data Broker?"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":57146,"parent":52641,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"views\/template-guide.blade.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[125,133],"class_list":["post-52330","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-data-removal","tag-guide"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is a Data Broker? | Security.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Data brokers collect and sell personal information from online and offline sources, but you can protect yourself using tools like VPNs and opting out services.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is a Data Broker?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Data brokers collect and sell personal information from online and offline sources, but you can protect yourself using tools like VPNs and opting out services.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Security.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotorgresearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-19T19:26:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1903\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"899\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@securitydotorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/\",\"name\":\"What Is a Data Broker?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-07T20:50:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-19T19:26:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"Data brokers collect and sell personal information from online and offline sources, but you can protect yourself using tools like VPNs and opting out services.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png\",\"width\":1903,\"height\":899,\"caption\":\"ZoomInfo stands out from other data broker platforms by being business-oriented. The dashboard has an advanced search function that allows you to search for professionals using their name, industry, city where they live, job title, and more. The profiles generated by a search include various ways to contact these professionals, including their phone numbers, email addresses, and LinkedIn profile pages. ZoomInfo also gives businesses a way to find and contact potential clients, particularly key decision makers among organizations and businesses. According to ZoomInfo, more than 35,000 companies use its services for marketing. If you make purchasing decisions, someone is probably searching for you there. Now, while those purposes are legitimate, the information contained in ZoomInfo\u2019s records can be used by scammers to initiate spear phishing attacks, a type of phishing scam that targets businesses and organizations. That\u2019s why we think it's a good idea to opt out of this platform, especially if you are in management.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Data Removal\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What Is a Data Broker?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/\",\"name\":\"Security.org\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Security.org\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2021\/04\/security-org-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2021\/04\/security-org-logo.png\",\"width\":329,\"height\":59,\"caption\":\"Security.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotorgresearch\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/securitydotorg\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/securitydotorg\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/SecurityDotOrg\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is a Data Broker? | Security.org","description":"Data brokers collect and sell personal information from online and offline sources, but you can protect yourself using tools like VPNs and opting out services.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is a Data Broker?","og_description":"Data brokers collect and sell personal information from online and offline sources, but you can protect yourself using tools like VPNs and opting out services.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/","og_site_name":"Security.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotorgresearch","article_modified_time":"2025-02-19T19:26:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1903,"height":899,"url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@securitydotorg","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/","url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/","name":"What Is a Data Broker?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png","datePublished":"2024-06-07T20:50:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-19T19:26:11+00:00","description":"Data brokers collect and sell personal information from online and offline sources, but you can protect yourself using tools like VPNs and opting out services.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Zoominfo-creates-profiles-of-contact-information-for-individual-businesspeople.png","width":1903,"height":899,"caption":"ZoomInfo stands out from other data broker platforms by being business-oriented. The dashboard has an advanced search function that allows you to search for professionals using their name, industry, city where they live, job title, and more. The profiles generated by a search include various ways to contact these professionals, including their phone numbers, email addresses, and LinkedIn profile pages. ZoomInfo also gives businesses a way to find and contact potential clients, particularly key decision makers among organizations and businesses. According to ZoomInfo, more than 35,000 companies use its services for marketing. If you make purchasing decisions, someone is probably searching for you there. Now, while those purposes are legitimate, the information contained in ZoomInfo\u2019s records can be used by scammers to initiate spear phishing attacks, a type of phishing scam that targets businesses and organizations. That\u2019s why we think it's a good idea to opt out of this platform, especially if you are in management."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/data-broker\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Data Removal","item":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/data-removal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What Is a Data Broker?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/","name":"Security.org","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#organization","name":"Security.org","url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2021\/04\/security-org-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/app\/uploads\/2021\/04\/security-org-logo.png","width":329,"height":59,"caption":"Security.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotorgresearch","https:\/\/x.com\/securitydotorg","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/securitydotorg","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/SecurityDotOrg\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54790,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52330\/revisions\/54790"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}