Person of Interest2011

Harold Finch:
[about LifeTrace] They marketed themselves as a "People Search" service, where their users can look up old friends or relatives anyone they've fallen out of touch with.

John Reese:
Sounds harmless enough.

Harold Finch:
There is, however, more to it than that

John Reese:
Always is.

Harold Finch:
Their business isn't really about reconnecting people, it's about collecting and selling their information. He's a data broker.

John Reese:
What kind of data?

Harold Finch:
Anything you would ever wanna know about a person where they live, work, shop, eat, how much they earn, how they vote and more. Then he turns around and sells the information to businesses, individuals even the government.

John Reese:
Is that legal?

Harold Finch:
Technically, data brokers get their information from public records, but also from the ways people reveal themselves online whether they're aware or whether they're not.

John Reese:
Sounds a little like your machine.

Harold Finch:
A principle difference would be that the machine never reveals any of its information beyond the social security number.

John Reese:
So you're not a fan of Kruger's.

Harold Finch:
People like him are one of the reasons I made sure the machine was impenetrable black box.