Are you a data broker? You might not think so, but European regulators could soon be looking at your business model and concluding otherwise.

In this episode of the Privacy Partnership Podcast, Robert Bateman breaks down a revealing market study commissioned by the Belgian Data Protection Authority through the EDPB’s Support Pool of Experts. Designed to identify and map the data broker ecosystem, the report provides a fascinating look at how the regulatory definition of data brokerage is expanding far beyond the traditional back-room list sellers of the early internet.

We explore how this behavior-based European definition sharply contrasts with privity-focused frameworks like California’s Delete Act. We also dive into the study's eight-part typology, which sweeps ”privacy-preserving” Data Clean Rooms, AI platforms trained on scraped data, and even B2B contact databases under the data broker umbrella.

If your organisation ingests data, mixes it with other datasets, and monetises the insights, this is an episode you need to hear.

In this episode, we cover:

[0:00] Introduction: A look at the new EDPB-commissioned market study aiming to map the data broker ecosystem.

[0:45] The Definition & The California Contrast: How the European focus on behavior, profiling, and lack of ”meaningful control” differs from the structural ”direct relationship” test found in California's CCPA.

[2:15] High-Risk Typologies: Why adtech’s beloved Data Clean Rooms and AI integration platforms are being classified as high-risk data brokers.

[3:45] Medium-Risk Categories: The regulatory perspective on aggregated spatial data, mobility trends, and B2B contact lists, and where the risk of re-identification allegedly creeps back in.

[4:10] Outro: Key takeaways for privacy professionals evaluating their own data supply chains and partnerships.