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Big Data May Not Know Your Name. But It Knows Everything Else

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Justin Sherman

Ideas
12.19.2021 08:00 AM

Big Data May Not Know Your Name. But It Knows Everything Else

Data brokers claim that deidentified data on millions of Americans is
risk-free. Lawmakers need to know that "anonymity" is an abstraction.

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A collage including a photo of the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
After LexisNexis Security Breach.
Illustration: WIRED; Getty Images

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Companies like Acxiom, LexisNexis, and others argue that there's
nothing to worry about collecting and sharing Americans' sensitive
data, as long as their names and a few other identifiers aren't
attached. After all, their reasoning goes, this "anonymized" data
can't be linked to individuals, and is therefore harmless.

Justin Sherman (@jshermcyber) is a contributor at WIRED, focused on
technology and geopolitics. He has written for The Washington Post,
The Atlantic, and many other outlets.
Op-ed contributor

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Topicsdatacongressbig dataRegulation
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