Internet users are asked to provide some personal information every time they sign up for a website. When they do this, they do not bother reading the privacy policies of these websites. Without their knowledge, there are different ways in which this uploaded information can be used. The users only become aware that this happens when they are affected in some way. With websites now literally relaxing their privacy policies, users might be up for some unexpected events.
It is surprising that many users do not think twice before giving up their information. Social networking companies have offers that come as freebies or added apps and services. Users who want to take advantage of these must first supply some information. Without second thought, many of them would willingly supply the data asked of them.
Some companies are careful with their privacy policies and how collected data will be treated. However, there is a move towards relaxing privacy policies. Privacy advocates say this is worrying because it is becoming all too common. With this move, users’ information will be more open to exploitation. This means that many websites are planning to use collected user data for other purposes.
It is disturbing because users’ information may be used in areas that they did not know about. Every user knows that the data they supply contains a lot of personally identifiable information. It includes date of birth, address, shopping history, location, and many other things that are freely supplied. This data can be a potential source of lucrative business. This can be used to identify individuals or groups for targeted advertising.
There are new kinds of companies that are becoming interested in using this data. When privacy policies become relaxed, these companies could possibly have access to it. Insurance companies are among those that can use this data to better know the interests of policy holders. They are interested in what clients buy, whether they smoke or not, what their favorite extreme sports are, etc. Social networks have a large amount of such information and it is readily available.
Facebook, Groupon and Linkedin admitted that they share data but are not involved in information selling. A representative said that social network users have control over the data that they share, especially photos. Facebook users, for example, can choose the appropriate privacy settings. They can opt to block those applications that they choose not to allow. Social networks say that while privacy policies may be relaxed, users are still protected. They just have to self-regulate every time they decide to share data online.
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