Data Brokers, Ad-Tech, and the Civil Liberties at Stake with Justin Sherman [S4E27]

Tech Policy Grind

This week, Reema sits down with Justin Sherman, CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, to talk all things data brokers.

They cover the ad-tech ecosystem, the past, current, and future of federal and state-level regulation on data brokers, and what the data brokerage industry means for civil liberties. They then dig deep into recent FTC action, including the implications of FTC v. Kochava, the California DELETE Act, and what might be coming down the pipeline in data broker regulation – including the CFPB’s latest action on data brokers.

Justin’s consulting firm, Global Cyber Strategies, is a Washington, DC-based research and advisory firm. Justin is also a senior fellow at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he leads its data brokerage research project and lectures on cybersecurity, privacy, and technology policy. In addition, he is a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council. He’s also a contributing editor at Lawfare, an op-ed columnist at Slate Magazine, and a fellow at Stanford Starling Lab.

Justin also serves as an advisor to the Christchurch Call to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online, a community of more than 120 governments, online service providers, and civil society organizations working to eliminate violent extremist content on the internet. Additionally, he is the technology advisor to the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.).

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• 2013 U.S. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Report – A Review of the Data Broker Industry: Collection, Use, and Sale of Consumer Data for Marketing Purposes
• 2014 Federal Trade Commission Report -Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability
• 2023 Washington Post investigation into the outing of a closeted priest using phone location data originating from, among others, Grindr
• Justin’s 2022 Lawfare article on a data broker who helped run anti-abortion ads to women in clinic waiting rooms
• 2022 Open Secrets report on data brokers who make millions selling data to political groups

Follow Justin on LinkedIn or Twitter!

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Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for our next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Reema engages with the Foundry voluntarily and in her personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed on air do not reflect on the organizations Reema is affiliated with.