It’s a complaint most in the industry have heard: data is everywhere.

But a new study indicates that there might be too much data for marketers to truly know what to do with, and some of the most valuable data is getting lost.

According to a recent study by the Location Based Marketing Association, 39% of marketers are very concerned with what the association calls “data exhaust” – the act of being overwhelmed with data to the point of losing out on its value. An additional 29% of marketers are somewhat concerned.

Of the more-than 600 people surveyed, 11% of respondents came from Canada, making it the second-highest country for representation (behind the U.S., at 47%).

More than a quarter of respondents (28%) say they have no idea how much data they throw away (and a combined 25% answered with “not applicable” or “no response”). Most respondents (29%) estimate that they throw out between one and 25% of data they take in. Additionally, 3% toss out between 25 and 50%, 9% throw out between 50 and 75% and 6% throw out between 75% and 100% of their data.

Despite the number of companies that admit they throw out data, 71% of respondents say data is very important to either them or their clients, and 29% say it’s somewhat important.

For both mobile and desktop browsing, the biggest source of data comes from IP addresses. Of those surveyed, 39% believed they were fully utilizing IP address data. However, 33% admitted that they’re not aware of uses associated with IP data, and 28% said that although they are aware, they could be doing more.

Of the specific data coming from IP addresses, 55% use location data, 49% use latitude/longitude and 47% use domain name.

Mobile carrier data is only used by 38% of marketers, although 45% say they plan to use it more in the next year, more than any other type of IP address data.

Despite the potential in IP data, 78% of respondents reported that they’re concerned about the accuracy of the data. Additionally, 58% were concerned about reliability and 54% about privacy.