It's our data, why don't we own it?

Sometimes I amuse myself by looking at the way my junk mail is addressed and deducing which company it was that sold them my contact information.  I have also expressed the opinion that the companies I buy products and services from are now making more money from selling my contact information than they do from our transactions.  It doesn't seem fair.  It's my info, so why am I not the one being paid for it?

From the very beginning Facebook made it clear that they own the data that people post on Facebook.  Moreover they had the right to sell that data - for commercial purposes, without even letting the user know.  I can't tell you how horrified I am by the thought of someone using a photo of me to sell cigarettes or another product that I disapprove of.  But it is true that they were upfront about informing people of this fact.

Of course getting people to read the fine print, when they don't read anything anymore is nearly impossible.

In 2015, Google released anonymous, aggregated data down to the minute, presumably to whet the appetite of marketers.  Among the data shared was the fact that search rates for "symptoms", which includes those for heart attacks, cancer, etc. peak between 1 and 2 a.m.. That would certainly be useful to know if you were selling a meditation app.  And if they are aggregating the data, it doesn't seem as scary as it would be if they weren't.  But I have been served ads for diseases I don't have after searching for data about them for a friend.  So I suspect that Google too is supplying marketers with a list of viable targets on a granular basis. (Stephens-Davidowitz, 2015)

Today LinkedIn pitched me their "premium membership trial."  They noted that the service included "competitive insights on people who are applying to the same job as you."  Hmm.  So that means that if I apply for a job through them, other applicants will see information about me.  What kind I wonder?  And unless I get the job, and they don't, what difference does it make to them what my credentials are? 

Net, net you have no privacy - it's in the fine print.  Deal with it.  Or you could just stop using social media.  It will probably make you happier in the long run.

Stephens-Davidowitz, S. (2015, July 5)  Days of Our Digital Lives.  nyt.com.  Retrieved April 11, 2018, from  https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/opinion/sunday/seth-stephens-davidowitz-days-of-our-digital-lives.html