Many of the top spenders were not pure data brokers but companies that nonetheless have massive data operations.
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, found thatBig Tech spent $108 million collectivelyon lobbying in 2020.
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DataRaker gets data from millions of smart meters and sensors for utilities companies, while Compendium delivers targeted ads.
Crosswise allows Oracle to track people across devices, claiming to process data from billions of devices every month.
Oracle also acquiredDatalogix, in 2014, which connected offline purchases to online profiles.
California recently passed a statewide privacy law that establishes an agency focused on regulating data privacy issues.
Virginia and Maine have also passed regulations to protect peoples online information.
The Markup contacted all 25 companies for comment on their lobbying activities.
So The Markup relied on companies that self-reported toVermontandCaliforniaas members of the industry.
The company didnt respond to requests for comment.
The second largest spender was Accenturea technology and consulting company that boasts a marketing and analytics branch calledAccenture Interactive.
The statements called for a federal privacy law that would preempt state laws.
Spending went to monitoring privacy legislation and accounting and auditing issues.
PWC didnt respond to a request for comment.
ThreatMetrix alone boasts tracking on 4.5 billion devices,according to a statementfrom RELX in 2018.
Deloitte and RELX didnt respond to a request for comment.
Deloitte records show that some of its lobbying efforts went toward addressing the Data Accountability and Trust Act.
Both COVID-19 data privacy bills looked to provide stronger controls over data related to contact tracing.
Some of the companies that showed up in lobbying records faced other sorts of pressure during 2020.
X-Mode and Venntel didnt respond to a request for comment.
Some companies said they were lobbying to have a voice on legislation, including potential federal laws on privacy.
A federal approach to data privacy and security is better than a patchwork of state laws for all stakeholders.
LiveRamp was the top lobbying spender amongcompanies whose primary focus is collecting datafor advertising purposes.
The company claims tohave data on more than 250 million Americans.
Experts said scrutiny and oversight is fairly new to the data broker industry.
Others, however, said Congress is not doing nearly enough to regulate the unwieldy industry.
What a lot of people dont understand is how data brokers fit into that ecosystem.
This article byAlfred NgandMaddy Varnerwasoriginally published on The Markupand was republished under theCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivativeslicense.
