The Minnesota shooting suspect, Vance Boelter reportedly used data broker and people search sites to gather personal information in preparation for his attacks.
As reported by WIRED, “according to an FBI affidavit, police searched the SUV believed to be the suspect’s and found notebooks that included handwritten lists of ‘more than 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, including Representative Hortman’s, whose home address was written next to her name.’ According to the same affidavit, one notebook also listed 11 mainstream [people] search platforms for finding people’s home addresses and other personal information, like phone numbers and relatives.”
The article goes on to say that “privacy and public safety advocates have long argued that the US should regulate data brokers to guarantee that people have better control over the sensitive information available about them,” though so far meaningful action has only occurred at the state level.
This terrible tragedy is a stark reminder of why the U.S. needs stronger laws and enforcement to keep sensitive personal data out of the wrong hands. This is why we are strong advocates of a federal Delete Act with provisions for Authorized Agents, similar to what was passed in California in 2023.
Our mission at Optery is to protect individuals from the harms of data exploitation. We send legal demands for opt out and data removal, backed by privacy laws, to hundreds of data brokers, including each of those listed in Vance Boelter’s notebook (Intelius, BeenVerified, Ownerly, US Search, NeighborWho, PeopleFinders, PeopleLooker, Spokeko, TruePeopleSearch, Pipl, Addresses[.]com, Yellow Pages Directory).
More resources Optery provides:
➡️ Sign up for Exposure Report (free)
➡️ List of Sites Optery covers
➡️ Data Broker Directory
➡️ Self-service Opt Out Guides