

Ask HN: How do background check sites get their data? - ashishk

I went on one and it had my address and email (both accurate). Even worse, a reverse lookup on my cell looked pretty accurate too.<p>*Note I only saw the preview pages...but the asteriked details looked accurate
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grandalf
Credit rating agencies (experian, equifax, trans union) collect all the data
whenever you apply for a credit card, and then re-sell it to other businesses
-- this is the data that experian sells with many of its demographic products,
for example. They also have metrics for your income, purchasing history, etc.
Someone can buy a list of email addresses of people with income > $x who have
purchased a car in the past 6 months, etc.

There is also a way that they obtain data via public records, etc., simply by
requesting it from each municipality.

