The following figure shows the current “Personal Data Ecosystem” (Source: Federal Trade
Commission FTC) with its several middlemen. One can see how “data collectors” collect personal
data from unprotected consumers, then “data brokers” analyze and package personal data
before finally selling it to mainstream companies.
Now in the era of Big Data, the amount of data being collected is increasing exponentially. Reinhard
Clemens, Board member for T-Systems and Group IT, explains that the total amount of data
collected in the entire year 2000, is now collected in a single day! That claim is supported by the
rapid growth of the data brokerage industry itself, which increased its revenue from $150
billion-a-year in 2012, to $200 billion-a-year in 2015.