NEW DELHI: Amit Singh was flummoxed when he recently started getting calls from play schools in Delhi offering his daughter admission. As far as he knew, he had never shared any details about his child with any school. After a few enquiries, he figured that the school had got data about his daughter from the private hospital where she was born.
Sukul Kumar had a different problem. He was receiving multiple calls pestering him to take a loan against the Swift car he owns. He was clueless how the callers got to know about his car. Then one of his friends told him that such ‘loan providers’ get hold of customers’ contact numbers from car showrooms.
Amit Singh and Sukul Kumar’s cases are proof how easy it is these days to get hold of data about any individual anywhere. Those in the business of supplying such data are known as ‘data brokers’. While trying to check out how exactly the entire thing works, this reporter discovered that this was business with big commercial stakes and that data brokers stocked up on all kinds of information.
Starting with the restaurant a person frequents to his favourite travel destination to his health profile to how much he can afford for various services, the brokers have a database covering all details, all of which are available for a few thousands of rupees.
Posing as a prospective businessman, this reporter spoke to many such brokers based in Delhi-National Capital Region. What emerged was that for anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 depending on type and quantity of data, one could get details about pretty much anybody one wanted. Details about a lakh students preparing for medical entrance exams were available for Rs 40,000.
Playing a prospective coaching-centre owner, this reporter spoke to a south Delhi-based broker. “I have data about students in Delhi and nearby cities, including Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. I can provide you data on students preparing for medical exams, engineering tests, clerk-level exams and many more. You will get the contact number, name and related details,” said Manoj, adding that he had an office in Sarojini Nagar area.
Asked what price the data came for, Manoj said, “The rate is 40 paise per contact detail. If you want the data of a lakh students, it will cost you Rs 40,000. You can come to my office for more enquiries.”
Another broker, Sunil, was more than ready to peddle data about the affluent people of Delhi-NCR region. “You can get data about people having their own houses and cars. They earn handsomely and spend a lot of money on shopping. You can offer them credit cards, insurance services etc,” he said.
Sunil said it wouldn’t be a problem supplying data about people in other cities. “We have our contacts in all big cities. We will provide you data about consumers in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other places. We have also started keeping data on people of smaller cities like Kanpur, Patna, Lucknow and others as there is a huge demand,” he said, quoting a similar price range.
Unlike Manoj and Sunil, some data brokers were cautious about giving away details about their business. “You will have to come to our office for more details,” said Raju. Asked why, he said, “Police have become more alert after some cases of data theft. The government has started taking action against data leak cases.”
Data Dossier
All kinds of data are available for a price in the market. Most sought-after are details of people with high salaries and those who own houses and cars.
Data of lakhs of students preparing for different competitive exams are available. Owners of coaching centres seek such data
Data brokers are mainly based in big cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad
Price of data range between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000. Varies according to type and quantity of data
Data of consumers in smaller cities like Kanpur, Patna and Lucknow are also available