Data broker
An organization that aggregates personal data (often location, behavioral, or demographic) from many sources and sells it as a feed or product. Broker data is high-risk third-party data because it sits far from the collection link, frequently arrives already joined and enriched, and has been a repeated target of regulatory enforcement over "anonymous" data that was re-identifiable.
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 4 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP).
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
An organization that aggregates personal data (often location, behavioral, or demographic) from many sources and sells it as a feed or product. Broker data is high-risk third-party data because it sits far from the collection link, frequently arrives already joined and enriched, and has been a repeated target of regulatory enforcement over "anonymous" data that was re-identifiable.
A company that collects and sells personal information, including in some cases utility account details or approximate balances, gathered from public records, prior data breaches, or other sources. A caller's ability to state an approximately correct detail about a target does not by itself indicate the caller works for the institution being impersonated.
A company or criminal actor that compiles and sells personal information, sometimes including fraud victim records, gathered from public records, breaches, purchased marketing lists, or direct criminal activity.
A company that compiles public records, purchase histories, and other available data into searchable profiles; one of the sources Section 3C2 names as a common origin for a scammer's target list, existing independently of anything the target personally posted online.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first module of every program is free with a free account.
- Third-party data and the vendor claims you must verify yourself · Data Reality, Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP)
- The second strike: the people who come back to help you · Impersonation and Emergency Scams, Senior AI Scam Defense
- Pay Right Now or Else: Utility Shutoff and Arrest Threats · Impersonation and Emergency Scams, Senior AI Scam Defense
- Sextortion and the photograph that may not even be real · Account and Asset Theft, Senior AI Scam Defense
Where it shows up at work
A definition is where Data broker starts. The lessons above teach it inside the competencies below, which are what job descriptions ask for and what the GAGE credential records. Every link here is drawn from the same careers map that builds a role's readiness check.
Traces where data came from, what transformed it, who owns each hop and where it flows downstream, so a number can be defended.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Roles that hire for it
Each role page shows the full competency set, what the seat decides, and a readiness check against your own evidence.
- Chief Data Officer, data leadership editionneeds it at depth
- AI Privacy Engineerneeds it at depth · 6 open postings this week
- Data Governance Leadneeds it at depth · 2 open postings this week
- Privacy Analystneeds working knowledge
- AI Auditorneeds working knowledge · 9 open postings this week
- Third-Party AI Risk Analystneeds working knowledge
How job descriptions say it
Postings rarely use the textbook word. These are the phrases the careers map reads as asking for the competencies above.
Where the frameworks place it: EU AI Act Article 10; NIST AI RMF MAP 4.
One interview question about it
Trace the lineage of a training dataset back to its source. What do you record, and what breaks when you cannot?
Asked of candidates for data lineage and provenance. Answering it in your own words is exactly how a GAGE topic is passed, and the credential records the pass where an employer can check it.
If you come from another field
Some backgrounds already carry this competency, and the readiness check gives credit for it.
- Privacy and data protection carries it as work you can show: Data maps and records of processing are lineage by another name.
- Data analysis, stewardship and business intelligence carries it as work you can show: Source-to-report lineage is what you trace.
- A data science, statistics or analytics degree carries it as a claim to back up: Lineage and provenance are known ideas, rarely yet documented for an auditor.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.