Consumers worldwide are becoming increasingly aware of these unethical practices and have begun
to actively protect their data privacy. This has prompted an ensuing arms race where, for example,
consumers blocking their web browsing cookies may be answered by the surreptitious gathering of IP
addresses, and so on. This is only one simple and innocuous example. Increasingly tech savvy users
and new privacy laws are making it harder for data brokers to access quality personal data. As a
result, data brokers may engage in much more sophisticated or veiled methods that can cross to line
into questionable practices.