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Data$Br ok ers$and$the$Sale$of$
Data$on$U .S.$Military$P ersonnel$
Risks%to%Privacy,%Safety,%and%National%Security%
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By"Justin"Sherman,"Hayley"Barton,"Aden"Klein,"Brady"Kruse,"and"Anushka"Srinivasan"
November"2023"
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Overview:" The" data" brokerage" ecosystem" is" a" multi-billion-dollar" industry" comprised" of"
companies"gathering,"inferring,"aggregating,"and"then"selling,"licensing,"and"sharing"data"on"
Americans"as"well"as"providing"technological"services"based"on"that"data."After"previously"
discovering"that"data"brokers"were"advertising"dat a"about"current"and"former"U.S."military"
personnel,"this"study"sought"to"understand"(a)"what"kinds"of"data"that"data"brokers"were"
gathering"a nd"selling"about"military"servicemembers"and"(b)"the"risk"that"a"foreign"actor,"
such"as"a"foreign"adversary"government,"could"acquire"the"data"to"undermine"U.S."national"
security."This"study"involved"scraping"hundreds"of"dat a"broker"websites"to"look"for"terms"
like"“military”"and"“veteran,”"contacting"U.S."data"brokers"from"a"U.S."domain"to"inquire"about"
and"purchase"data"on"the"U.S."military,"and"conta cting"U.S."data"brokers"from"a".asia"domain"
to"inquire"about"and"purchase"the"same."It"concludes"with"a"discussion"of"the"risks"to"U.S."
military"servicemembers"and"U.S."nat ional"security,"paired"with"policy"recommendations"for"
the"federal"government"to"address"the"risks"at"hand."
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Table,of,Contents:,
Executive"Summary" " " " " " " " " 3"
Introduction" " " " " " " " " " 7"
Background" " " " " " " " " " 9"
Risks"to"National"Security" " " " " " " " 14"
Methodology" " " " " " " " " " 16"
Phase"1"Results:"Scraping"Data"Broker"Websites" " " " " 21"
Phase"2"Results:"Buying"Servicemembers’"Data"via"U.S."Domain"" " 25"
Phase"3"Results:"Buying"Servicemembers’"Data"via".asia"Domain" " 32"
Phase"4"Results:"Analysis"of"Purchased"Data" " " " " 37"
Conclusion"and"Policy"Recommendations" " " " " " 46"
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