Data broker
An intermediary that aggregates, enriches and resells personal and behavioral data, often unbeknown to the persons concerned.
In March 2024, The New York Times revealed that General Motors was selling its customers' driving data to two data brokers, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, which passed it on to auto insurers. A data broker is such a company: it collects, aggregates and resells personal and behavioral information on a large scale, interposing itself between the producer of the data and its end user. In insurance, these brokers build risk profiles from multiple sources. The policyholder never sees them, generally cannot contest them, and discovers them only when their premium rises. The General Motors case led the American federal authority to ban the manufacturer, for five years, from transferring this data to consumer reporting agencies.
Textbook case: a driver sees their premium rise and does not understand why. A data broker holds a driving file on them, resold to their insurer, and they never knew it existed.
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