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“Moral bankruptcy is common in this industry, but I rarely see a company so proud of it.” – Callie Schroeder, Electronic Privacy Information Center  Farnsworth Intelligence sells highly personal data on the cheap. Its business plan is as revolutionary as it is mercenary and brazen: Positioning itself as a legitimate business but selling data previously brought to market in the twilight corners of the dark web. The realm in which this company operates is euphemistically known as “open-source intelligence,” or OSINT. Once upon a time, OSINT was primarily composed of publicly available data. But don’t be fooled. To quote PC World writer Michael Crider, “This is information apparently sourced directly from data breaches, stolen from companies and services in ways that just about every country considers a crime.” And it’s all repackaged to sell at various price points. To wit, 404 Media, whose Joseph Cox broke the story, bought a tiny slice of Farnsworth’s data wares for a mere $50. 404 Media reports that is all they needed to eventually mine the addresses of numerous identity theft victims. Perhaps that’s why journalists report the company’s website says customers can find up-to-date addresses for debtors. Need data for your multi-million-dollar divorce case? Farnsworth can do that too. As for the potential for trade secret violations, corporate espionage law, and the general use of stolen data in courts, EPIC’s Callie Schroeder says stay tuned. There are likely statutes that apply to what Farnsworth is doing, but as with all things digital, judicial rulings have been inconsistent to date. And don’t even get us started on the surreptitious value government agencies of all stripes will place on this kind of dark web data – it could be a warrantless surveillance extravaganza. But there is no denying that shamelessness sells. After the story broke, Farnsworth issued a “404MEDIA” promo code on LinkedIn to celebrate the fact that it “has been getting a lot of attention.” Comments are closed.
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