Sunday, July 12, 2015

Privacy-What's the Big Deal?

We love the Internet. We visit 100's of sites in a month. We love our phone and its cool apps. But do we have any idea what's being done with the information about us that's tracked on these websites and apps? I recently attended a conference where a credit scoring company did a presentation on what data factors into their credit score and one of them was our cell phone data-what apps we have, how late at night we stay out and how physically active we are. While many people are, rightfully so, concerned about the recent data breaches at the federal government, I think consumers need to focus on the legal use of personal data. We agree to let a company use our information by using their website. How often do we read the company's "Privacy Policy" or "Terms of Use"? We agree to let those apps use our data by clicking on "Agree" to download it. Data means big revenue to these companies. The only way they will change and not sell our data is if consumers push back and stop using sites/apps that use this business model. 
For more information see ConsumerAction's Privacy website (For full disclosure, I am on their Advisory Board.) and the Federal Trade Commission's site