How Your Personal Information is Collected, Sold, and What You Can Do About It
Every single time we log onto the internet, check the news, or shop online, we leave behind a digital trail of breadcrumbs. This trail is made up of your Personal Information. It includes obvious things like your name and email address, but it also tracks your hidden browsing habits, the things you put in your online shopping carts, and your entire purchase history.
Companies love this data because your information is worth money. While sharing this data can sometimes give you a more personalized experience when shopping, it also raises major red flags about your privacy and who really controls your life online.
Here is a look at how the data dragnet works—and how you can fight back.
The Data Collection Dragnet: It’s All About YOU!
Data brokers don’t just guess who you are; they gather the pieces of your life from four main areas:
1. Directly from You: This is the easiest way for them to get it. Whenever you sign up for a new website, fill out a form for a freebie, or buy something online, you hand your information over voluntarily.
2. Social Media: Every post you write, photo you share, and post you “like” adds another piece to your digital jigsaw puzzle.
3. Mobile Apps: Many smartphone apps quietly track your physical location, your web history, and how often you use your phone, even when you aren’t actively using the app.
4. Data Brokers: These are hidden companies that buy up public records, store loyalty card data, and court documents to build a massive file on you.
Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together
Once these companies gather your data, they use smart computer programs to link them all together. They take a random email address you used years ago and connect it to your real name, your current home address, your cell phone number, and your relatives.
Once they have a complete profile of you, they put YOU up for sale in the marketplace.
Who is Buying Your Profile?
Businesses buy these massive data files for three main reasons:
Targeted Advertising: Ever talk about buying a new toaster, only to see toaster ads on every website you visit ten minutes later? That’s data profiling at work.
Market Research: Companies want to track overall buying trends to see what people in your age group or zip code are spending money on.
Risk Assessment: Lenders, banks, and insurance companies sometimes buy data to help judge your financial risk or creditworthiness.
Taking Back Control: How to Opt Out
You don’t have to just sit back and let these companies sell your life. Here are a few practical, easy steps to lock down your privacy:
Use Better Privacy Tools: Install a highly rated, free ad-blocker like uBlock Origin, or uBlock Origin Lite (Chrome), and use DuckDuckGo instead of Google for your everyday web searches to stop companies from tracking your clicks.
Manage Your App Permissions: Take a look at the apps on your smartphone. If a simple flashlight or game app is asking for permission to see your location or your contacts, say no!
Opt-Out of Data Brokers: Many of the biggest data collection companies legally have to let you opt out if you ask them to. Keep in mind, though, that new brokers pop up all the time, so keeping your name off their lists is a never-ending chore.
A Quick Note on Privacy Regulations
Depending on where you live (like Europe or states like California), strict new privacy laws give you the legal “right to be forgotten.” This means you can demand that a company completely delete your history from its servers. Check your local state laws to see what rights you have!
The Big Names in Data Brokering
To give you an idea of who is tracking you, here is a short list of some of the biggest data brokerage firms operating today:
LiveRamp (Formerly known as Acxiom)
Experian (Yes, the credit reporting giant is also a massive data broker!)
Epsilon
CoreLogic
Oracle America (Which bought out Datalogix)
Intelius & PeekYou (People-search engines)
There are many more – with new ones popping up every day.
Want to See How Much of You is Out There?
If you want to know exactly how much of your personal information is floating around on the dark web or public databases, you can run a quick, free scan using these reputable services we have tried ourselves:
1. Mozilla Monitor (Run by the trusted folks behind the Firefox browser)
2. Optery (They offer a complimentary scan)
The internet brings us so much convenience every day, but it shouldn’t cost you your privacy. By using a few smart tools and staying informed, you can take control of your digital footprint and navigate the web with a little more peace of mind!
But as we always say, the internet will never be a private place, no matter what you do