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SOMEONE SCRAPED MASSIVE BANK OF PERSONAL DATA USED BY PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS


The scrape shows that databases such as TransUnion’s TLO can leak out beyond the
initial creator’s control.
by Joseph Cox
January 13, 2022, 2:00pm
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Image: SOPA Images/Contributor
Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and
reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.
See More →

A third party has scraped contents of TLO, a massive database of personal
information used by private investigators and law enforcement, and then posted
the information elsewhere on the internet, including peoples’ physical
addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and the contact details of their
relatives.

The finding shows the risk of databases like TLO that contain hundreds of
millions of sensitive data points. Once someone has access to TLO, they may copy
that information, distribute it, and otherwise use it however they see fit. In
this case, the data was scraped and then posted online where it could
theoretically be discovered by others. In this case, access to the scrape was
password protected, but the password was easily discoverable.

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Jelle Ursem, an independent security researcher, first alerted Motherboard to
the scraped TLO data. The website appears to be connected to a real estate firm.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.

> Do you know anything else about data selling or scraping like this? We'd love
> to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph
> Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, or
> email joseph.cox@vice.com.

On its website TransUnion says clients can use its TLO database for fraud
mitigation, determining business risk, insurance claims management, and more.

“Find likely locations, telephones, assets, liens, bankruptcies, fraud history
and much more,” TLO’s website reads.

The real estate firm’s website of scraped data includes thousands of PDFs of
results from searches on TLO concerning specific people.

Igor Ostrovskiy, a New York based private investigator with Ostro Intelligence,
previously told Motherboard that TLO’s data contains “very powerful information
that can help professionals with fraud investigations. Or can help criminals
commit fraud as well as a variety of other crimes.”

“Data security is TransUnion’s top priority. To ensure that TLOxp information is
used only as permitted and appropriate, we deploy comprehensive safeguards,
including rigorous credentialing of all users, strict access controls, and
ongoing monitoring,” David Blumberg, senior director of public relations at
TransUnion, told Motherboard in an emailed statement. Consumer credit reporting
giant TransUnion runs TLO.

“We also utilize tools to proactively scan for references to TLOxp on the web to
uncover any potential misuse of data. In those cases, fraudsters often pull data
from other sources and misrepresent it as TLOxp data. In the rare case we
determine that one of our customers has misused TLOxp data, we immediately
terminate access and coordinate with law enforcement to help prosecute those
criminals,” Blumberg added.

In December, Senator Ron Wyden urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) to stop credit agencies from selling Americans data.

“These data brokers are serving as shady middlemen to sell this personal
information without any legal protections,” Wyden wrote to CFPB Director Rohit
Chopra in the letter. “CFPB must rein in the sale of Americans’ data by credit
agencies for non-credit related purposes.”

Subscribe to our cybersecurity podcast, CYBER. Subscribe to our new Twitch
channel.

Tagged:SURVEILLANCECYBERlaw enforcementpisprivate investigatorsTransUniondata
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