‘Personal data sold to the highest bidder’: ASIC sues shady comparison website owned by lead generators
Consumer Action Law Centre welcomes the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s (ASIC) decision to commence proceedings against Clark Family Pty Ltd (Clark Family) alleging it operated a lead generation business, misleading consumers by appearing to offer a ‘comparison’ of insurance and loan products when in fact enquiries were sold to the highest bidding broker.
“ASIC alleges Clark Family lured people into revealing their preferences, and worse, on-sold their personal data to the highest bidder,” says Eleanor Doran, Consumer Action’s Assistant Director, Policy and Campaigns.
“Comparison sites appear independent from the products they are ‘comparing’ but all too often they trick people towards particular products or businesses.
“People think they are entering their details to get tailored advice about products only to find themselves facing aggressive online and telephone marketing, or even a door knock, from an unfamiliar business who has bought their data.”
Consumer Action’s frontline services have seen manipulative lead generation like this in action for years, where online ads and tools are used to ‘capture’ personal details that are then harvested for the purpose of pressure-selling products that may be ill-suited or poor quality.
BACKGROUND
Consumer Action released a landmark report in June 2026 ‘Manufactured Consent: stopping the harm from manipulative lead generation’ that details the complicated and devious practice, its devastating impacts and the road to reform. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found lead generation was widespread and reinforced consumer harms in its own report released in July 2026 that summarised findings from a comprehensive review into unsolicited selling and lead generation. Consumer Action continues to call for a ban in lead generation in high-risk sectors.
ENDS
Media contact: Mark Pearce, mark@consumeraction.org.au Tel: 0413 299 567