Surfing the net is fun and something we all like to do on a daily basis. But have you ever considered who can actually see your online activity, or even worse steal your information and sell it on? It’s a scary world out there and you most probably have no idea what is being done with your information online!
Have you ever been searching for something or talking about a particular item and all of a sudden numerous ads are appearing on your phone? Ads that contain just what you were either searching for or talking about with a friend? It’s no coincidence! These are targeted ads and the aim of these ads is to get you to buy their product!
WHAT DO THEY HAVE ACCESS TO?
These companies can access your email address, your full name, D.O.B, IP address, and even your home address! Your information in the wrong hands can be catastrophic. Therefore do everything you can to keep yourself protected online!
If you have signed up for a free service online, or even if it’s just the case of opening up a social media account, do you realize that with you opting for the free version you are actually not a valuable customer but instead just a target! The real customers are the advertisers. You're not paying for a service but they are buying your data! You're basically a product to be sold nothing more! How this is allowed to happen is quite unbelievable but we, unfortunately, can’t stop it from happening. All we can do is take steps to hide our information from these thieves! That’s exactly what they are! They are stealing your information from you without your permission and making a profit from doing so!
YOUR DATA IS VALUABLE TO THEM!
The fact that these websites/companies are allowed to do such a thing without even having to ask for your permission is just completely shocking!
Companies don’t make it easy for consumers to find out exactly how their data is being used. Believe it or not, there are some huge companies that you personally have never even heard of that know more about you than you can even imagine! You wouldn’t willingly go up to a stranger and hand them all of your personal information so why surf the net without protection?
Your data is very valuable to businesses. Most companies want to know everything there is to know about you. For example, where do you do your online shopping, what Facebook pages do you like, and even how much you spend annually on your home!
There were certain studies carried out in 2019 and it was discovered that there are over 4,000 data brokerage companies operating across the world! That’s a very worrying thought!
Any information they can collect on you is valuable to them. Their aim is to sell you services or products that you most probably don’t even need or require!
If you are one of the many social media addicts then you are actually giving these data brokers a lot of information about you! Of course, you can’t make yourself completely invisible to these people but there are steps that you can take in order to protect yourself and insure that sensitive information isn’t obtained by them.
VPN IS THE BEST PROTECTION
Signing up for a VPN is one of the most sensible things you can do. Not only is your IP address completely hidden but a VPN also encrypts your data. This insures that anything you do online is completely hidden from everyone, including data brokers. Make sure you go with a trusted VPN provider. Sometimes it’s better to go with a paid service as it is a possibility that some free services could log your data and sell it to others. VPN Proxy Master is a great choice as it not only abides by the privacy policy it also protects you by hiding your IP address and anything you do online! It is a very popular choice and so easy to install and use.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR DATA ACTUALLY WORTH?
The value of people’s data varies from person to person. However, it is said that your data could fetch a whopping $240 per year! This is for details such as your name, D.O.B, home address, and email address. Of course, there are other data they can obtain too meaning no one is safe from these people!
Do you realize that your email address alone can retail for around $89? Data brokerage companies are very successful businesses. They can make around $156 billion annually which is just mind-blowing! The amount of money that is to be made by selling people’s information is just absolutely insane, the fact it’s legal is even more mind-blowing!
GUILTY CULPRITS
Most of your favorite sites are guilty of selling on your data. Here are just a few of the guilty parties who are involved in selling their customers’ data.
- Snapchat
- YouTube
- TikTok
Personally, I had no idea that all of the above companies were involved in selling customers' information! It has certainly never crossed my mind that when signing up to Instagram or TikTok I would be actually signing my rights away so to speak! All of these particular sites are popular amongst the younger generation meaning your children’s information is out there for complete strangers to see also! Always monitor what they are doing and how much time they are actually spending online! Children can be victims too!
Don’t take it lightly that it’s only your email address or only your date of birth etc, these details can insure that they get access to even more details. You could be monitored 24/7 and you could even become a victim of credit card fraud! This is very common and happens way more than it should!
What’s my advice?! Stop what you're doing now and install a VPN! Your information is already out there, don’t add to the fuel by giving them more. Protect yourself with a VPN! It’s the best way to protect you and your family from these people and you can sleep easy knowing that data brokerage companies and other guilty businesses can no longer profit from you!
