Few people know that it is possible to delete personal information from the Internet. When we give up our privacy in exchange for the convenience of free services, we agree to receive information targeted just for us. Whether you're paying to use a digital product, it's worth knowing that your browsing data is a product for someone else.
How free digital services work
When your data is a product, you should know a few things. This information can help you make better decisions about using free services. However, few people familiarize themselves sufficiently with the topic when using free services online.
For example, the navigation programs on our phones optimize our routes based on the information of thousands of other passengers traveling the same route. Similarly, search engines give us results designed to match our priorities and show us ads tailored to our interests. All you have to do is log in with your email address and inform the service of your location. It only needs a little information about us to understand the context of our situation.
What is the Risk of Handing Over Information?
We don't always understand what personal information can be pieced together from various seemingly insignificant details. Once your data is available, you can't control what will be done with it. When it comes to targeted content it is a good thing in a way, but it also has its downsides. The content you browse can be narrowed down to only certain topics, and thus essential content can be missed. A greater risk is that the data will end up in the wrong hands. Many companies sell information to third parties, and this can at the very least lead to a massive flood of spam in your email.
How Companies Collect Information
Google has built a network of useful tools that people use every day, such as Gmail and Google Maps. Most people use social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram several times a day. Although most of these services are free, we users pay for them in the form of data.
Whenever you register for a Google service, you must sign in to your Google account and accept the privacy policy of that service. This makes it difficult to track what data Google collects. Google collects and stores most of your information. It tracks your search terms, video views, views and interactions with content and ads, and video and audio data if these features are used.
It also tracks your purchasing activity and, if a third-party site uses Google services, your activity on those sites or applications. Google also saves your browsing history if you use the Chrome browser synchronized with a Google account. In terms of location, Google keeps track of your device's sensor data and things near your device, such as Wi-Fi hotspots, cell towers, or Bluetooth devices, via GPS.
Meta
Facebook's parent company Meta now owns several social media platforms, including Instagram, Thread, and the messaging app WhatsApp. This gives the media empire access to information from social media users around the world. Meta knows a lot about its users, the people you interact with, and the groups you've joined. It knows exactly when you log in, how long you've been logged in, and what comments, shares, and posts you've made during that time.
Why Companies Collect Your Information
So what does Facebook or Google do with the data of billions of people? The companies use the information to personalize and improve their products, such as suggesting groups you may be interested in, showing you businesses near your current location, or selecting highly targeted ads for you.
How to Protect Your Data
You can protect your privacy online by following several policies. For example, you can make sure your network is encrypted before using passwords, avoid revealing your email on publicly accessible websites, and only send emails to recipients you know. Modern payment systems allow you to use a unique, one-time credit card number created specifically for the transaction to minimize risk and protect against data loss. We can do a lot to protect our data. However, today's phones are full of applications that cannot be used without consent to the release of data.
What Else Can You Do
The ideal privacy solution for today's global flow of information would be a single system that would allow everyone to check what is known about them, who knows it, and how that information is being processed. For example, the system could keep track of who is allowed to send you a newsletter by e-mail and who is allowed to call you in connection with a telemarketing offer. Who knows your social security number and home address? It would be the equivalent of a central bank, except that it would regulate the use of data instead of money.
Final Thoughts
Do you make an effort to read the privacy policies of the companies and websites you deal with, or are you like most people who don't? We are surrounded by technology that can make our lives easier without any financial cost.
Privacy policies are long and contain jargon that will leave anyone without a legal background scratching their head. However, the fact is that a company's privacy policy should be important to us because it contains information about what our data is collected, how it is protected, and how it is shared.
Due to changing legislation and the ever-increasing amount of data, both marketers and individuals have challenges adapting to this world. Brands need to spend more time convincing their potential customers of the benefits that sharing their information can provide them. Consumers also need to take more responsibility for how their data is used and how secure it is.
When you think about using free services and its risks, you should increase your knowledge and awareness. Let's go back to your phone's navigation system as an example. Perhaps the benefits of using it outweigh any reasonable downsides of having the system provider know how you drive and feed your targeted advertising. Even if you've been pretty careless about the information you share in the past, the game isn't completely lost. There are tools for deleting data and companies that have introduced services to the market, with the help of which you can take control of your data.
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