Cybersecurity & Tech Surveillance & Privacy

The Lawfare Podcast: Data Brokers and the Sale of Data on U.S. Military Personnel

Stephanie Pell, Justin Sherman, Hayley Barton, Brady Allen Kruse, Jen Patja
Thursday, November 16, 2023, 8:00 AM
What are the national security risks arising from the sale of data that data brokers sell?

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

On November 6, researchers at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy issued a report on Data Brokers and the sale of Data on U.S. Military Personnel that illuminates the national security risks arising from the sale of these data. Lawfare Senior Editor Stephanie Pell sat down with the three of the report’s authors, Justin Sherman, a senior fellow at the Sanford School of Public Policy who leads its data brokerage research project, Hayley Barton, a Master of Public Policy and Master of Business Administration student at Duke University and former research assistant on Duke’s data brokerage research project, and Brady Allen Kruse, a Master of Public Policy student at Duke University and research assistant on Duke’s data brokerage research project.

They talked about the kinds of data that data brokers collect and sell about U.S. military personnel, the national security risks created by these practices, and the gaps in the law that enable this activity. They also discussed policy recommendations for the U.S. federal government to address the risks associated with data brokerage and the sale of data on former and active-duty U.S. military personnel.


Stephanie Pell is a Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Editor at Lawfare. Prior to joining Brookings, she was an Associate Professor and Cyber Ethics Fellow at West Point’s Army Cyber Institute, with a joint appointment to the Department of English and Philosophy. Prior to joining West Point’s faculty, Stephanie served as a Majority Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. She was also a federal prosecutor for over fourteen years, working as a Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, as a Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Justin Sherman is a contributing editor at Lawfare. He is also the founder and CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, a Washington, DC-based research and advisory firm; a senior fellow at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he runs its research project on data brokerage; and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Hayley Barton is a Duke University graduate student focused on the intersection of technology, data, policy, and business to achieve social impact and solve complex problems and former research assistant on Duke’s data brokerage research project.
Brady Allen Kruse is a Master of Public Policy student at Duke University and research assistant on Duke’s data brokerage research project.
Jen Patja is the editor and producer of The Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics, a nonprofit organization that empowers the next generation of leaders in Virginia by promoting constitutional literacy, critical thinking, and civic engagement. She is the former Deputy Director of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier and has been a freelance editor for over 20 years.

Subscribe to Lawfare