The FBI has confirmed that the suspect in the murder of a Minnesota state representative and her husband used lists of data broker sites to find the home addresses of his victims. This is the first time such evidence has directly linked data brokers to the murder of a public official.
A list of 11 data broker sites, with notes on the cost, openness and type of data, was found in the SUV of Vance Boelter, who is accused of killing state representative Melissa Hortman and attempting to assassinate another lawmaker. It also contained records with the names of more than 45 state and federal officials, including Hortman’s own address and the name of her husband. This is a key piece of evidence that shows how open-source data can be turned into a deadly weapon.
Data broker platforms collect, sell and publish vast amounts of personal information: names, addresses, phone numbers, relatives. In most cases, access to these databases does not require verification – it is enough to have a bank card. And while some states are trying to introduce restrictions, such as Vermont, by analogy with New Jersey’s “Daniel’s Law”, there is no progress at the federal level. A joint initiative by Senators Klobuchar and Cruz failed in 2023.
This case is the first legally confirmed example of data broker tools directly causing the death of a public figure. Politicians, journalists, activists – all are vulnerable as long as this data can be bought for pennies. Murders based on information available on the Internet are no longer the exception, but a trend that requires a legislative response. The coming weeks could change the regulatory landscape of the United States.
