Discipline and Power in the Digital Age: The Case of the US Consumer Data Broker Industry
Abstract
While many scholars have commented on the rise of consumer finance, few have sought to critically explore a largely invisible segment of this industry: the multi-billion dollar consumer data broker industry. The industry has amassed trillions of digital consumer records, or ‘big data’, that are stockpiled, analyzed, and sold. The odious under-regulation of this industry, as well as the role it plays in consumer debt and data breaches, often flies under the radar of critical social analyses. I adopt a neo-Gramscian approach to make sense of the material, historical, and social dimensions of this phenomenon. This article asks: what are the sources and nature of this industry’s power, and how does it relate to consumer debt? The analysis suggests that these systems demonstrate how financial capital can constitute certain domains of public policy.
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The US data broker industry was estimated to generate over $150 billion in revenues in 2012.
“The US data broker industry was estimated to generate over $150 billion in revenues in 2012”
From Social Injustice in Surveillance Capitalism (2017) · cites this paper as Roderick 2014
Acxiom claims an average of 1500 data points for each of the 700 million people worldwide in its database and made a profit of $1.1 billion in 2013.
“Acxiom, a major player which claims to have an average of 1500 data points for each of the 700 million people worldwide in its database, made a profit of $1.1 billion in 2013”
From Social Injustice in Surveillance Capitalism (2017) · cites this paper as Roderick 2014
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References 43 · Cited by 78
- Authors
- Roderick, L.
- Affiliations
- Queen's University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Roderick, Leanne
- Venue
- Critical Sociology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-01-06
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 729-746
- ISSN
- 0896-9205 (ISSN-L)
- 1569-1632
- OpenAlex
- W2323538332
- Cited by
- 78
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 7.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Critical Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Finance › Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Foucault, Power, and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism
- Keywords
- big data, consumer finance, consumer debt, data breaches, financial capital, public policy, under-regulation, neo-Gramscian analysis, power and discipline
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