{"p"=>"Data brokers play a central role in the commodification of personal data in the twenty-first century. To gain insight into the relationships between data brokers and government, we conduct an analysis of government contracts with data brokers. We analyze contracts related to identified data broker companies within the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) database, which lists government contracts in the USA. In total, we identify 28,644 contracts awarded to data brokers from 1978 to 2025. We combine this with a qualitative systematic review of news stories and reports on the harms of data broker surveillance. Given the scope of data broker operations and the potential for privacy violations among other harms, we adopt a social harm framework for conceptualizing data brokering and its effects on individuals. A social harms perspective allows for an understanding of the harms caused by data brokers, including economic and financial harms, psychological and emotional harms, and cultural harm. We argue that addressing the social harms caused by data brokers demands a rethinking of our relationship with data as well as the power dynamics in our digital economy."}