Data broker

Data broker is a business that collects personal details from many sources and sells or shares them, often without you knowing.

Data broker: A data broker is a company that gathers personal details, such as phone numbers, addresses, shopping habits and interests, from many sources and sells or shares them with others. It may never deal with you directly, which makes it hard to know who holds your data.

In India, people notice this when they get calls about loans, insurance or property soon after filling a form, registering at a store or using a free app. Your number may have passed through several hands. Lists of phone numbers are also sold to scammers, who then call in bulk with offers or threats. Selling lists of numbers is a quiet business that often feeds the spam and fraud you later face.

You cannot remove yourself from every list, but you can slow the spread. Share your number only when truly needed, use a separate email for sign-ups, and decline optional data sharing. Ask companies you deal with to delete your data and stop sharing it. Check apps that ask for contacts or call logs, since those can be the source. Doing this once a year is a good, low-effort privacy routine.

Tips

• Give your number only where truly needed, and refuse optional sharing.
• Use a separate email address for shopping and sign-ups.
• Ask companies to delete your data when you stop using them.

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