// the.pipeline · five steps, one visit

How you become a record

Most explanations of data brokering stop at "they collect your data." This walks the actual chain, in order, using only publicly documented mechanics — from the signals this page can already read to the price your label clears at auction.

  1. 01Collection
  2. 02Identification
  3. 03Inference
  4. 04Pricing
  5. 05Retention
step 01 · Collection

Before you click anything, the page already has a description of you.

// initializing scan...
step 02 · Identification

The signals are stable enough to recognise you again — with or without cookies.

// probing local exposure surface...
step 03 · Inference

Observed behavior becomes a label. The label is the product.

// which.of.these.could.be.you

Toggle anything true of you. Nothing is stored; nothing leaves this page. Segments below will light up as they match.

you match0 / 30 documented segments

None of these behaviors are secret. Each one is legally purchasable as a targeting attribute. This is the mechanism.

// segment.gallery · real audience names, publicly documented

Every string below is a segment brokers have actually packaged and sold. Click one to see who ships it and who buys it.

routinesensitivepredatory
30 shown · 30 total · none invented · all traceable to public documents
step 04 · Pricing

Labels have rate cards. This is what the industry makes from holding yours.

// price.your.data · what the ecosystem earns from you

The famous "your data is worth a few cents" line is about what you could sell it for. This is the other number: what the industry makes from having it.

attributes attached to you
your impression CPM
$3.78
untargeted floor $2.80
broker file price
$0.07
one record, one sale — resold repeatedly
ad revenue you generate / year
$15.12
4,000 impressions
ecosystem lifetime value
$154
10 years of impressions + repeat file sales
estimates, not invoices · baseline: Run-of-network display CPM range reported across industry benchmarks; the floor an unsegmented impression clears. · volume: Conservative reading of published display-impression-per-user estimates; deliberately low. · premiums keyed to documented segment pricing · nothing entered here is stored or sent
step 05 · Retention

The record outlives the behavior that produced it, by years.

// retention.clock · how long each system remembers you

The system's memory is longer than yours. That asymmetry is the whole business model.

  • Google search & activity18 months (default)
    Auto-delete defaults to 18mo for new accounts; user-adjustable to 3, 18, or 36 months — or off.src · Google Account activity controls (support.google.com)
  • Meta ad-interest profileindefinite
    Interests inferred from your activity persist until you manually remove them.src · Meta Ad Preferences documentation
  • Data broker warehouseindefinite
    Broker records are retained, enriched, and resold. No standard purge policy exists.src · FTC Data Brokers report, 2014
  • TransUnion TLOxp7+ years
    Investigative database mixing credit-header, public-record, and utility data. Sold to law enforcement, debt collectors, insurers.src · TransUnion TLOxp product documentation
  • Bidstream logs (losing bids)undefined
    Every bidder that lost the auction still received your data. Retention on those copies is unregulated.src · UK ICO adtech report, 2019
  • Credit-header filesdecades
    Name/address/SSN history compiled by credit bureaus, sold outside the FCRA to almost anyone.src · EPIC on credit header data
  • Your intuition about yourself~90 seconds after the tab closes
    The one memory system built to forget. Everything else outlasts it.src · the punchline
7 systems · every window traceable · you are the shortest one
// end.of.chain

You have now seen the whole mechanism. The last step is the one that pushes back.

→ reclaim.kit→ active.protocols