Why do commercial warehouses rely so heavily on public records?
Public records are open to inspection by anyone. The definition of what records are public varies depending on state and federal law. The definition may include government contracts with businesses, birth, marriage, and death records, court files, arrest records, property ownership and tax information, minutes of meetings of government entities, driver’s license information, occupational licenses, and Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Many of these public records contain personal information. This information is required to be divulged when citizens interact with state or federal bureaucracies to vote, receive public benefits, and enjoy privileges. However, once a record becomes public, there is generally no restriction on the way the personal information in the record is used. Commercial data warehouses are, therefore, consolidating public information and reselling it for a profit. People are willing to pay data warehouses for free information because the data warehouses mak
