Hank Asher pioneered the data broker industry. In a technical field, he is not a known figure. However, his legacy continues to affect us, and has as much impact as any other Big Tech name from Silicon Valley.
Data brokers collect massive amounts of personal data. They cull data from public records, card transactions, social media and geolocation data. All the data is then synthesized for their clients and is used for advertising, insurance and law enforcement.
In the early 1990s, Asher’s partner had the idea of buying bulk data from Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) from the state of Florida. The cost was a penny for a record.
They relied on a processing unit operating sequentially. However, they connected multiple smaller devices to distribute processing tasks. The system ran faster than that of the competitors.
Asher’s firm provided current address, past occupants of the same address, past addresses, past residential addresses, registered businesses against a particular name. More and more search criteria were added — marriage and divorce records, credit reports, gun licences, voter registrations. Home internet proliferated in the 1990s — email addresses and online shopping behaviour were added.
The users were the police department, insurers, law firms. DBT went public in 1966. Asher had 36 percent stake in it. It was worth $111 million. DBT was converted into ChoicePoint commanding an annual revenue close to $1billion (2004).
In 2000, during the presidential election DBT Online was roped in by the state of Florida to clean voter rolls by removing felons. DBT’s methodology was so flawed that it barred black voters from voting. There was a high margin of error. The election was swung to AI Gore. Asher denied any responsibility and loomed large in data mining.
It later prepared a list of potential plane hijackers.
Asher evaded charges of his role as drug smuggling pilot between the US and Central America in the 1980s.
Asher was roped in to identify missing and exploited children. Hank Asher was a colourful character. He expired in 2013. His Hank Show succeeded in demonstrating how credit bureaus are worse than even social media.
Our data is aggregated and is sold to enforcement agencies, immigration, and hospitals. Aggregated data does matter. It is of grave concern
Facebook and Google revenues is close to a half trillion dollars on account of targeted advertising on the basis of aggregated data.
Asher’s original firm was sold to LexisNexis and his last company TLO was sold after his death to credit bureau TransUnion.
LexisNexis and TLOxp are routinely used to find the phone number, collect information of past criminal record, locate relatives and neighbours of someone in the news.