Personal data of top executives easily found online
The personal information of 75% of corporate directors can be found on people search sites, according to Incogni.
People search sites claim to reveal a variety of personal details, including public records, phone numbers, and even property values. Home addresses and relatives are the two types of information potentially exposed across all the people search sites investigated.
Board members are exposed online
Board members from companies in the consumer staples sector are the most likely to be found on people search sites, with 84% likely exposed, followed by board members from the industrials (81%), technology (77%), and consumer discretionary (73%) sectors.
Conversely, board members from the communications sector are the least exposed, with 53% likely found on these sites, followed by those in the energy and materials sector (60%) and healthcare (62%).
26% of board members are listed on more than 20 people search sites, and 17% are listed on 25 or more.
Florida (87%) and Illinois (85%) have the highest likelihood of board members being discoverable, followed closely by New York (84%). California, despite its strict privacy laws, is not far behind, with 76% of board members likely exposed. Ohio rounds out the list, with 73% of board members likely exposed.
Industries that have experienced more employee data breaches tend to have a higher likelihood of their board members being exposed on people search sites. The three sectors with the highest exposure rates for their board members are technology, industrials, and consumer staples, and they are also the only sectors that have experienced two employee data breaches.
Revenue seems to matter little
There appears to be no correlation between revenue and exposure rates. Companies with revenues above $50 billion have exposure rates similar to those of companies with revenues below $10 billion.
While the average exposure rate across all companies is over 70%, some companies defy this trend, with only 30% of their board members likely exposed.
Men are slightly more likely to have their data exposed, with 76% affected compared to 68% of female board members.
“Organizations offering controversial products—or those with missions that elicit strong public reactions—have long recognized the critical need to safeguard the privacy of their executives and key personnel,” said Ron Zayas, CEO of Ironwall by Incogni. “However, in today’s climate, any company can quickly become the target of online backlash, only to realize too late that its most visible representatives are at risk.”