A congressional report released on Feb. 27 by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., estimates that four major data broker breaches over the past decade have cost U.S. consumers more than $20 billion in identity theft losses.
Hassan, the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, said the committee’s minority staff analyzed four large data breaches impacting a total of hundreds of millions of Americans within the last 10 years. Those incidents alone cost U.S. consumers over $20 billion, according to the report.
Data brokers collect and sell personal information gathered from commercial, government, and other public sources. According to the report, much of that data collection occurs without consumers’ knowledge. When that information is later exposed in breaches, it can fuel identity theft, fraud, and scam activity.
The committee estimated the $20 billion figure by evaluating how many breach victims would face identity theft, scaling that down to be conservative, using federal data to gauge how many would lose money, and then multiplying by a typical $200 loss to calculate the total damage.
However, Hassan’s report noted that the number is likely to be much higher.
“Notably, consumers with data exposed in a breach may try to recover losses through a class action lawsuit against the companies that experienced the breach. These cases make clear that the total financial losses that victims of identity theft experience are likely far greater than the median of $200 lost to identity theft,” the report stated.
The report said that “given the Committee’s calculation that U.S. residents have lost more than $20 billion in recent data breaches, additional action is needed to protect Americans from scams connected to data brokers.”
“At a minimum, opt-out options should be easy to locate and use,” the report added.
In August, Hassan followed up on reports that five data brokers were allegedly obscuring their opt-out pages, making it more difficult for individuals to request deletion of their data or prevent its sale.
Four companies – Comscore, IQVIA Digital, Telesign, and 6sense Insights – responded to Hassan’s inquiry and improved the accessibility of their opt-out options. Findem did not respond to the senator’s request for information or corrective action.
Hassan said improved transparency and oversight of data brokers could reduce fraud and scam losses.
“As the volume of information that data brokers collect on individuals continues to grow – and as U.S. losses to scams escalate – data brokers, the Administration, and Congress can all play a key role in addressing scam risks stemming from data broker practices,” her report stated.