

Opt Out of Acxiom Marketing Data Collection - obiefernandez
https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx

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izzydata
This sure seems like a scam to me. In order to remove data they wan't me to
give them a ton of information about myself that they supposedly don't have
otherwise they wouldn't be asking for it.

If they don't have any of this then they already don't have anything useful
about me that I'd care to have removed. They would probably just take this
info to create a more complete profile about who I am.

~~~
cshimmin
All they're asking for is name, number, meatspace and email addresses.
Presumably, it's so some guy named "John Smith" doesn't prevent them from
collecting information on the thousands of other J.S.'s out there.

Not saying I feel comfortable filling out the form myself, but still. It's
silly to expect that just a name or email tells them everything about you.

~~~
spaznode
That's the point, both of them in fact. It's likely that to error on side if
caution they rarely in fact do find and purge all your associated "identities"
/ records..

So why are they even bothering? Especially since they could collect much less
while greatly increasing safe purge of your records if they wanted to.
Targeting people for advertising is not a cursory half assed random thing to
advertisers. It's their bread and butter. Why is this link even on hn?

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AliAdams
Why is this opt-out in particular of interest to people?

~~~
trebor
They're one of the largest, most secretive data brokers out there. That's why.
A lot of data passes through them and out to many other parties.

~~~
schmichael
That doesn't really answer the question. Why would you opt out of marketing
data collection? I'm going to be bombarded with ads online either way; might
as well make them as relevant as possible, right?

~~~
trebor
I don't like being advertised to or manipulated, and by studying market
segments they often try to "fit me" into certain profiles (good luck with
that). I've already gotten spam emails because my data was sold that didn't
respect my Unsubscribe requests. That's why I use Adblock/Disconnect/HTTPSB,
etc, to avoid most advertising and building that profile (if I can). If
someone has _unobtrusive, inoffensive, non-targeted ads_ I would be fine
displaying them. And removing my profile from data brokers so that it stops
getting sold and I stop getting hassled would be a huge boon.

In my mind, my privacy is my decision—and collection without my informed
consent is something I take as a serious offense against me. If I want to
share information about myself, then I'll share and that's what you get.
Companies building profiles and sharing/selling them behind my back isn't good
for their relations with me. I'd be just as offended having a private eye
snooping into it as I would the NSA or my neighbors, or Acxiom. Data brokers,
et al, I view as opponents these days.

~~~
MaysonL
_(good luck with that)_

Reminds me of the time a few years ago that Google gave me a few ads for bow
resin after I signed up to the cello-dev mailing list.

~~~
steanne
i got fertility treatment ads after looking up how to freeze eggs (the cooking
kind).

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trebor
Interesting, they discuss both Opt-Out and Removal of your information. They
explain about the Opt-Out process, but mention nothing about how to get your
information removed.

Anyone have an idea on how to get your info _removed_ or if the opt-out does
that for you?

(Someone should build a list of these data brokers and their opt-out/removal
policies and pages.)

~~~
nightbrawler
Here is a good one:
[http://www.stopdatamining.me/](http://www.stopdatamining.me/)

~~~
Casseres
And yet they use Google Analytics.

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JustinAiken
Heh, I worked with Axciom's API at one point.. it was terrible. SOAP API with
out-of-date and error prone documentation, and wildly inaccurate information
on any phone number I tried.

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youngtaff
I'd feel better if I didn't get "This certificate was signed by an unknown
authority"

~~~
dsl
You have a serious problem. The valid site is signed with a valid Entrust
certificate.
[https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=isapps.acxiom...](https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=isapps.acxiom.com)

Are you at work or on a coffee shop network where SSL traffic might be
intercepted?

~~~
chigley
I ran the Qualsys SSL Labs test on the site[0]. It reports an incomplete
chain; that is, the server doesn't supply the intermediate certificate
required (Entrust Certification Authority - L1C) to bridge the gap between the
site's certificate and the Entrust certificate in most browser/OS stores.

This intermediate certificate must instead be downloaded by the browser. I
suspect, therefore, that some browsers do not have the intermediate
certificate and so the certificate cannot be validated.

[0]
[https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=isapps.acxiom...](https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=isapps.acxiom.com)

~~~
youngtaff
The intermediate cert should be requested from the server - might take a peak
with wireshark if I've got time later.

I work for a security company so have zero expectations of privacy when I'm on
the corporate network (which I was here) but I also see the same issue on both
3 and EE in the UK.

I don't generally see issues like this on the corporate network so there's
something different about this case.

Of course Acxiom really should serve the site and intermediate certificates
together to reduce round-trips and speed up the handshake.

