From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Information Resellers and Consumer Privacy Concerns Description: Audio interview by GAO staff with Alicia Puente Cackley, Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment Related GAO Work: GAO-13-663: Information Resellers: Consumer Privacy Framework Needs to Reflect Changes in Technology and the Marketplace Released: November 2013 [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It's November 2013. Social media sites, mobile applications, and other technologies often gather personal information from their users. That information can be collected or bought and then resold for marketing purposes, which raises privacy concerns. A team led by Alicia Puente Cackley, a director in GAO's Financial Markets and Community Investment team, recently examined privacy issues and information resellers. GAO's Sarah Kaczmarek sat down with Alicia to talk about what they found. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Consumers share a lot of personal data with social media sites, mobile apps, and companies online. How is this information being used? [ Alicia Puente Cackley: ] Well information resellers collect, aggregate, and sell consumers' personal information for a variety of purposes. The one main purpose is marketing. So resellers maintain large sophisticated databases with information from a variety of sources about individuals and families. They get the information from public records, such as property tax or court records, from publicly available information, their telephone directories, classified ads, and from non-public information, through loyalty card programs, warranty registrations, or through online activities. And then resellers use the aggregated information to offer products that allow clients to target their online advertisements. Or they may offer retailers the ability to add purchase and lifestyle information to their existing customer databases. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] And what laws are in place to protect consumer privacy, and how well are they working? [ Alicia Puente Cackley: ] Well currently there's no comprehensive federal privacy law governing the collection, use, and sale of personal information by private sector companies. There are also no federal laws designed specifically to address all the products sold and information maintained by information resellers. Rather, there are a set of more narrowly tailored laws that govern the use and protection of personal information. So the laws apply for specific purposes and certain situations to certain sectors or to certain types of entities. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Should consumers be able to expect more privacy and control over their data or is that just too difficult or expensive with today's technologies? [ Alicia Puente Cackley: ] Well that is currently a matter of some debate. There are differing views on whether there is a need for more legal privacy protections or whether better enforcement of current laws and self regulation of the industry can suffice. There are also differing views as to appropriate approach in designing additional legislation related to privacy protections. And at the same time, there's a debate about how to address consumers' interests in the use and control of their data. So many believe consumers have a right to expect the companies will collect, use, and disclose their information in ways that are consistent with the context in which the information was provided. Industry representatives have argued that repurposing of consumer information generally is not inappropriate or harmful. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Given these differing views, what's GAO recommend? [ Alicia Puente Cackley: ] GAO is recommending that Congress consider strengthening the current consumer privacy framework to reflect the effects of changes in technology in the marketplace, particularly in relation to consumer data used for marketing purposes--while also ensuring that any limitations on data collection and sharing don't overly limit economic and other benefits to industry and consumers. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Finally, for consumers concerned about their data privacy, what's the bottom line here? [ Alicia Puente Cackley: ] The bottom line is that consumers should be aware that information that they voluntarily provide is often shared with others for marketing purposes, including info they provide through store loyalty programs, warranty registrations, questionnaires as well as information publicly posted on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. In addition, there are various actions consumers can take to reduce the collection of such information, such as various opt outs and do not track options, but all these actions have limitations. The main way consumers can learn about how their information is collected and used, as well as how to opt out, is by being aware of and reading the privacy policies of the companies they do business with. [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] To learn more visit GAO.gov and be sure to tune in to the next episode of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the Congressional Watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office.