GPS Tracker On Your Car

You are driving a vehicle and one of your tires goes flat. So you get out your tire jack and spare wheel and change the tire. During this process you see a strange black box that is magnetized to the underside of the vehicle. What should you do?

Ad ID’s Help Develop A New Type Of Shady Data Broker

The first thing we need to determine is whether you own the vehicle or whether it’s owned by someone else. If it’s a company car your boss might be able to legally track it durning business hours. Some places require your employer to notify you if you are being tracked during business hours and the details of that tracking. We are talking in ballpark terms, because it will very depending on your location. I would recommend that if it’s a company vehicle to just tell your employer about it and let them deal with it. What should you do if you are the owner of the vehicle. You are the only person who is legally allowed to track your car most of the time. Most places require police to get a vehicle tracking search warrant. Even if it is the police’s you can take it off your car. I would then recommend leaving it in an easy accesible public space, like a park. GPS Trackers are expensive and whoever placed it is going to want it back. If you take it off and place it inside your house they might come looking for it and try and gain entry into your house. It is just more of a pain than it’s worth. It might be helpful if you take a video of you removing it from your car and any serial numbers on the device. Also it might be good to show you leaving it in a public place. So you have proof in case it becomes a problem for you legally in the future.

User Agreements and Details From Many Companies.

How can you fight back against Google’s Trackers? You can log out of Google on that browser and delete your Browser search history and cookies. That way Google won’t have that needed computer code inside that particular browser to track you. If another browser is still logged into Google with Google Cookies then that browser can be tracked.

If your Google free web browser encounters Google then Google can make a ballpark guess about who you are. Just like it always does when it doesn’t find it’s computer browser code.

Let’s say your Surfing the web with on a computer with a clean browser, but right next to your computer is your smart phone that is logged into Google. Well Google can look at the fact that both of these objects have the same IP Address and that they are close to each other. Then they would determine that you are using that computer.

I would recommend that you download Chrome as your internet Browser and then do all your Google stuff on there. Then download another Internet Browser or a few and do your Non Google stuff on there. For people who are a little more extreme you can download an operating system like tails that clears your computer back to it’s factory reset every time you turn it off or on. My point is you have options.

But when it comes to Smart Phones most of them are designed that you need to be log into them 24/7 to get the phone or app to work. So that information is always there. Also it is always sending out your location data.

Who Is Using This Data And What Are They Using It For?

The Federal and some State Governments has tried to regulate data brokers, making it easier for people to regain some control over their data. One law recently passed by California, SB 362 California Delete Act, it allows California Residents to fill out one form online and all Data Brokers must delete all their files on that person within a limited time frame. Data Brokers have to register with California and allow their files to be audited. If they are out of compliance then they can get fined be the state every day. The law sounds great, it takes affect in the next few years. So I am going to see how it is enforced in real life. Because I remember when we all signed up for the DO Not Call List back in the day and yet we are all still receiving junk mail calls on our phones.

People Search Websites
Some Data Brokers use the information they get on people to make a People Search Website. These People Search Websites are designed so you can find an old friend or relative. They are also used to verify someone’s identity or help complete a background check. Occasionally people use them to find potential customers for their products if you have a specific customer base. Unfortunately for every heartwarming story of a long-lost family member reunited with their loved one, there is also an opportunity for criminals to use this information to help them find their next victim. For example, if you are a victim of domestic violence and you are trying to start a new life away from your abusive ex-partner. They can use this service to figure out where you have relocated too. Maybe for some reason your profession has gotten on the wrong side of some activist group. You don’t want a bunch of angry strangers showing up at your house when you’re not there and picking a fight with your wife or kids. But no matter what your personal situation is, we all are entitled to the right fade into the background. Criminals could also personally target your home internet network with the information that they got off one of these sites. They could Hijack your home network and cause all types of problems for you. They could pull off a phishing or impersonation scam.

Background and Identity Checks
Another area that Data Brokers get into is verifying you are who you say you are and helping their clients to mitigate risk to their company, organization, or pocketbook. This might affect your ability to join a club, get a job or qualify for a loan. Identity Theft is a big problem, so good on them for trying to help out with this issue. The problem becomes what happens when the information in your file is not accurate or miss leading. For example, the information you give to your doctor is protected under HIPPA. But the information you type into an online medical search engine might not be. So, you are watching a TV show and a main character has some strange embracing illness. So, you get curious and type the illness into an online medical search engine. This information might get added to your file. Thereby making potential employers wonder if you have it and if you’re going to need allot of time off work or if you’re going to run up your medical bills. That would be an example of miss leading information. Sadly, you might not know about the issue or be able to clear it up before the damage is done.

Credit Reporting Bureaus
There is also Financial Data Brokers, such as the three big credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They aren’t the only companies in this industry, but they are the ones you have most likely heard of. These companies specialized is sucking up all your available financial data out there. They use this data to make a profile on you and give you a credit score number. This number can affect your ability to get a loan, secure a house or car, or even get hired in certain fields. Sometimes you might still get the loan, product, or house, but you might get less favorable conditions You might have to pay more money in interest over the life of the loan, you might have to get a cosigner or put down a large deposit. The big problem with the Financial Data Brokers something prevalent throughout this industry, it’s the quality of this third-party information that they are using to form their opinions on you. Maybe it’s truthful and maybe there is an issue with it somewhere along the line. This is why in past articles we have encouraged people to get a copy of their credit report of their birthday every year and review it. Really it doesn’t matter the day just pick one and stick to it. Every year they are required to let you look at your report and you can talk to them about any inaccuracies you find. So that is a nice option that we encourage everyone to take advantage of.

Final thoughts.

Overall, here is the issue with Data Brokers, they have large amounts of personal information about you that they are selling to anyone with enough money. They also have data breaches that can cause your information to be leaked to anyone on the Dark Web. Some companies might claim they have some security measure to help protect your file from being directly linked back to you. But given enough information it is easy for professional to figure out that file #111 is you.

So Data Brokers are bad, you don’t want your name on their lists. But so many people are selling your private information to these Brokers what is the solution? You need to find a company that will help you remove your name from their list. They are required to do it but they don’t make it easy. Because if they did their company would go out of business tomorrow. That is where

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