That is, the seller can ignore the costs, because they are born by someone else -- the individual whose information is sold.
The information is sold to retailers, manufacturers, advertising agencies and others who strive to keep current on an industry known for lurching in unpredictable directions.
Stories were said to have involved details about Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, pop star Mick Hucknall and murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, while prosecutors said information was sold to the newspaper by public officials, including police and prison staff.
"No information is sold to advertisers.
If the borrowers contact information is sold directly to lenders, they can resell the information even to their competitors (and contact information is not as dynamic as rating information).
A consumer thinks they are going to get real quotes form dealers, instead their personal contact information is sold into an ecosystem worth billions of dollars and the consumer is inundated with spam, automated emails from dealers (without price quotes), unwanted phone calls and even spam from affiliated industries (insurance, finance, etc).," McClung says.
"No Grindr user information is sold to third parties.
And, there's no guarantee that when you believe your work is done, the problem doesn't resurface a year or two down the road because your information was sold and resold multiple times on the black market.
But Sullivan and Freestone are confident that even if some users grimace at the idea of their genetic information being sold to Genentech or Pfizer, the long-term benefits will make the discomfort worth it.
