What User Data Is Stored About You & How You Can Minimize Risk

Facebook is the world’s largest directory of people, with more than two billion users.

There are 3.5 billion Google searches on any given day.

Amazon has access to all of your product views and purchases, as well as your Alexa questions.

Apple has a trove of data with Siri.

The world’s largest technology companies are gathering more data and more information about you each minute, for more targeted marketing.

While the information allows companies to offer more personalized opportunities, many customers still question the lack of privacy.

Facebook recently fell into scrutiny as news broke of Cambridge Analytica’s use of private user data in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and for Brexit.

Google is also under scrutiny for the amount of data they collect from searches, email and other means.

Companies use the data to learn more about potential customers, employees, and to maximize profit.

But, your data is also being sold to third parties.

Below are some of the reasons companies may want some of that information you may consider private.

The Uses of Big Data

Influencing Your Purchases

Let’s say you need new running shoes.

You browse Amazon to scope out what’s available. Something catches your eye on Facebook.

You begin scrolling and suddenly, ads pop up for running shoes.

Retailers have become more adept at using browser data to target ads.

Discovering Lifestyle Changes

Combinations of items purchased together can give retailers a strong indication on a customer’s life status.

One example is pregnancy.

User data can be used to adjust marketing campaigns and send customers ads that cater to their current status.

Ads that Relate to Your Interests

Ever wonder why you receive different Spotify or Hulu ads than your friends? That’s because those ads are specifically tailored to you.

If you sign into an account using Facebook or Google authentication, the account you just signed into now has access to the data Facebook and Google store about you. That information is then used to tailor ads directly to you.

Employee Decisions

It is common for employers to probe a prospective employee’s social media profiles.

What you choose to post can impact your employment prospects.

As we enter a more interconnected future, more companies will have access to more of your data.

The internet of things also creates a market for additional consumer data, inserting a new host of companies into the mix.

For example, your at-home food decisions may become valuable information for companies such as GE, so your smart refrigerator can automatically purchase more milk as your supply runs low.

However, often it’s lesser-known companies such as Cloudera or Kaggle that are the front-runners in data collection.

Selling Your Data

Marketing may not be the only purpose for companies to collect your data.

The information itself has value, which is why many companies sell your personal information to data brokers. Data bureaus then use this information from multiple companies to create a more holistic picture of your user profile.

For example, there are multiple sites where you can type in a person’s name and general location and the next page will give you a list of other information related to said person, such as family members, addresses, arrest records, etc.

While this may lead to long lost friends regaining contact, there are nefarious issues with this, as well.

Quick access to troves of personal information can aid identity theft.

It can be a way for those with ill intentions to impersonate you or find access onto a password-protected website.

In addition, the sites collecting and storing your data are not impenetrable. While they may be difficult to hack, it’s typically a human error that ends up allowing attackers into a system. And there’s not a lot companies can do to protect against human error.

If these data bureaus are hacked, it can lead to further identity theft, phishing attempts, and other scams.

This exposure of data leaves users vulnerable.

The Data Being Stored About You

Depending on your privacy settings and online habits, the amount of information stored about you can range. The ways for information to be collected vary but are vast. Here are just a few:

• IP address
• Credit card numbers
• Basic information. Any time you enter your email address or phone number, that information can then be tied back to your identity.
• Authentication options. If you use Facebook or Google to log in to certain accounts.

In addition, below is a list of common information companies typically collect.

1. The Basics. This includes everything from your name, email, phone number, gender, location, and more. This information is the easiest to gather since it’s virtually impossible to shop online, download a PDF, etc. without filling in this basic information.
2. Political + Religious Beliefs. Come election season, it’s impossible to escape political ads, whether on TV or online. Past that, you probably see articles about candidates shared by friends on social media. Every time you click on one of those articles, Twitter and Facebook know and they store that information. The more you click on articles that lean a certain way, the more Facebook will tailor your feed to show more articles also leaning that way.
3. Shopping Habits + Purchases. While cookies and trackers are an obvious way for companies to track your purchases, there’s also another way: your credit card. Every time you make a purchase with a credit card, the online store, credit card company, and data bureau all now store that information and are able to share that data. While you may say, “OK, so what?” Keep in mind that data really adds up.
4. Marital Status. Even if your relationship isn’t “Facebook official,” companies can still easily tell whether you’re single, dating, or married. While there are obvious ways to gather this data such as adding someone to your Amazon family, adding an authorized user to your credit card, or adding a partner in Google so you can share photos easily, there are also a few other ways companies can infer this. One is through your shopping history – both by purchases and the name/address to which you send packages.
5. Interests. This is especially true if you have a gmail account. Google can crawl your Gmail emails to discover references to your interests, and show ads that directly relate. If you use Chrome, Google can also track the news you read, the websites you visit, the searches you make, etc. Combine this with access to your email and Google has a scary amount of information on you.

The Fight for Privacy

Privacy advocates such as the ACLU have called on tech companies to limit the data they collect and to take additional steps to protect it.

Europe is set to tighten restrictions on data collection for all companies, which may have an impact on some large U.S. corporations.

> Read more on the General Data Protection Regulations.

While the battle to protect your individual data is increasingly futile, there are certain steps that can reduce the number of breadcrumbs you leave in the online world.

Tips for Improving Your Online Privacy

In the next few weeks, Facebook will be rolling out new privacy settings.

The announcement comes in the wake of Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to congress, and the impacts of Cambridge Analytica’s use of personal data collected by Facebook.

The new settings will also comply with the new, stricter European GDPR standards.

Facebook says it will make it easier for users to delete information they don’t want shared and will give users more options on being shown ads based on religious or political information.

Facebook will also give users more options regarding facial recognition features.

Restricting this information can help protect you, but there are a few other ways the public can tighten their data trail, as well.

Evaluate your settings and read through the privacy policies on sites such as Google and Amazon.

If you’re not satisfied, there are a handful of privacy-based web products on the web.

For example, if you don’t want email information to influence the ads you see, you can use an email provider such as ProtonMail, which was built and designed to protect user data.

Duck Duck Go is a search engine built with privacy in mind.

Because they keep your search history private and block trackers, you won’t see ads relating to your latest obscure medical search.
Epic Web Browser is also a browser that remains in private browsing mode, protecting user data.

In addition to these browsers, you should also keep certain security precautions in mind.

For instance, refrain from visiting websites that store financial or other highly-personal data while on a public Wi-Fi network.

*Cara Hebert also contributed to this article.