Oh man I was just repeating what I read from an article, but there's so much more in that list.
racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs; union membership; genetic data; unique biometric information; citizenship or immigration status; contents of certain mail, emails, and text messages; or health, sex life or sexual orientation information.
Surely none of this could be used for nefarious purposes, right?
What do you think these companies were freely competing for? It's profits. It has always been profits.
Cartels and monopolies are what happens when you have "free competition" for a bit, and then someone "wins" the competition.