Privacy as a Service: Can Automation End the Personal Data Black Market?

Long gone are the days of worry-free browsing, where everything was seemingly free and there to be helpful. We are now in an age where we don’t pay for simple digital services with funds, but with personal information. Every online interaction leaves small traces of our identity, and that information is compiled into complex profiles. From there, they are collected by data brokers and later on sold and traded, often without our explicit consent. 

This pressing issue has started a movement for Privacy as a Service. It aims to treat privacy not as a personal responsibility or a legal compliance measure, but as an on-demand service. The service would be provided by professionals in the space, such as Incogni, which specializes in removing personal data from data broker databases. These specialists would protect, monitor, and manage an individual's data footprint for a flat price or through a subscription service. Here, we will explore how PaaS has gained so much attention over the years and what automation’s role is in all of this.

The Personal Data black Market: How It Works and Why It’s Harmful 

The personal data black market refers to the underground economy of stolen, harvested data. These marketplaces deal with data that has been attained through phishing scams, data leakage, and even large-scale corporate breaches. All of these instances are very common, as all it takes is one piece of malware to enter a system, and all data can be extracted. No matter the scale, it has a disastrous impact on all affected, especially when cybercriminals get their hands on the data. They exploit the knowledge gained from the data to perform targeted scams, account takeovers, financial fraud, and, in some cases, even identity theft. 

While these situations can create years of financial issues and emotional fallout for individuals, the effects don’t stop there. This trade and its practices not only fund cybercrime ecosystems but also harm the standing of digital systems. There have been instances where, as a result of breaches, we have seen cascading security incidents that burn companies through regulatory fines, legal liability, and reputational damage.

Automation’s Role: Tools and Technologies That Remove or Protect Personal Data

The trading of stolen data has always been difficult to manage and seemingly impossible to prevent. However, recent developments in technology have shown a potential path towards a permanent solution to the issue. Automation is looking like the key component that will shift the balance and make privacy protection faster and more proactive than ever. There are already many tools in the space that utilize automation to combat data trading: 

• Data Removal Services – These services utilize automated crawlers to scan public websites, data broker listings, and social media for specific personal information. Once they identify said data, the system automatically sends a removal request to site owners and brokers. The system significantly reduces manual labor and allows for rapid removal.
• Privacy Enhancing Technologies – These technologies are automated data-masking systems, encryption services, and other privacy algorithms that anonymize data. This significantly hinders cybercriminals, as data is anonymized before it is ever shared or stored, preventing it from being linked to individuals.
• Consent and Preference Automation – Platforms are more and more starting to automate cookie preferences and are opting out of data sales. This extends to automation of requests that come from data deletion laws such as the CCPA or GDPR. 
• Improved Identity Management – More and more individuals are using password managers and multi-factor authentication systems. This has resulted in fewer accounts getting breached and prevented data leaks directly. 

Each of these technologies has been essential to the downfall of data markets. Their integration into consumer products and workflows has made combating the issue an invisible process. All thanks to automation and the peerless effort of those leading the fight against cybercriminals.

Potential Benefits and Challenges

Automatic privacy protection has many benefits, primarily the enhanced speed compared to manual alternatives. Automated systems take on tasks that would take individuals weeks manually in just a few minutes. This has significantly reduced the time during which data is susceptible to attacks. Through automation, privacy as a service has become scalable and very accessible. This has made the service very consistent as it operates without fatigue or mistakes caused by oversight. 

Despite its promise as a proactive defense, PaaS has many challenges regarding legal restrictions and technical barriers. Privacy laws vary widely between jurisdictions, and automated requests might not work at all times. On the other hand, some data brokers make it intentionally difficult to remove data. These systems directly combat automated attempts and create a chain of constant evolution from both sides. With time, we will see PaaS automation improve and adapt to the challenges it is presented with. However, until then, it is still the best way to combat the data black markets.