Data for sale: 75% of US House members exposed by people search sites

US data brokers have collected and put up for sale the personal information of at least 329 US House members, the data opt-out service Incogni has found. People search sites offer detailed profiles that include home addresses, phone numbers, relatives, property records, and even information about neighbors.

Data brokers roam free as the US doesn’t have a comprehensive federal law protecting from personal data collection and dissemination.

Some states, notably Texas and California, have introduced laws protecting home addresses and personal information from public disclosure. However, even these laws often operate on an opt-out basis and require your initiative.

So there’s no surprise that anyone could access records for all House members from Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, or Tennessee.

In total, Incogni checked 437 representatives, including non-voting delegates and excluding three vacant seats, and found 75.3% of them on people search sites.

“We saw a concentration of highly exposed members of the House in the Northwest. We also observed 22 states and territories where all of the representatives were available on people search sites,” Incogni, the personal information removal service from Surfshark, said in a report.

The least exposed House members are from New Mexico, Connecticut, New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Washington, Arizona, and South Carolina, where data on less than 60% of House members can be found on people search sites. Still, that’s a significant proportion.

One website with most of the profiles offered addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, relatives and associates, business associations, criminal records, liens, and judgments on 294 House members.

Other websites, offering dozens of profiles, also included mugshots, social media profiles, neighbors, property value and details, marriage and divorce information, misdemeanors, and other details.

Anyone buying a service on a people search site (PSS) could access the collected information.

“Each PSS may not necessarily hold every data point on every House member caught in its operations, but these lists give a good indication of the extent of the data displayed on a typical profile,” Incogni said.

“Many of these data points are part of the public record, but it’s the way people search sites to make them quick and easy to find that’s concerning.”

Researchers believe that exposing such data comes with a high risk for anyone, not only congressional representatives. Potential attackers could craft extremely effective spear-phishing campaigns to defraud or otherwise deceive their victims. Data brokers monetizing access to public records, even if unintentionally, make it easier for bad actors to exploit information.

Out of 329 exposed representatives, 171 (52%) were Republican, and 158 (48%) were Democrat. This proportion mirrors the current composition of the House.