5 ways your data is collected (and sold)

Ordinary life is full of contradictions. We humans are not nearly as rational as we like to think, as behaviorists have long pointed out. One daily example of personal contradictions is the use of apps. People say they want digital privacy, but the same people use software applications that collect and sell data.

Apps are ubiquitous for a host of reasons: checking the weather, scanning the news, playing games, scrolling through pictures, ordering food, and networking. Selling people’s data to third parties is also widespread. 

We could probably all share times we’ve accepted an app’s terms and conditions without reading. There’s a fleeting hesitation, but then the “I need this” sensation takes over. It’s important for parents to be aware of some ways that today’s common apps collect personal data.

Here are five ways people give away personal data, whether they realize it or not.

1. Personal identification

Name, email address, phone number, gender, birthdate, calendar events, personal location, computer or phone’s type and location, purchases, and hobbies are all the first to be collected just for using social media products. The people you talk to are noted, as is any information they upload about you.

2. Personal opinions and attitudes

Social sites are very interested in shopping, reading, and voting habits. This type of big data exploded with the creation of Like and Share buttons. Brands and lobbyists pay handsomely to know these details about you and your family. 

3. What makes you purchase products

The speed of swiping, movement of the mouse, and even angle of viewing are methods for advertisers to figure out what designs are most likely to culminate with a purchase, or some other desired action. 

4. Places you travel and where you stay

Location tracking is troubling enough for adults, but particularly concerning when children are triangulated both online and in real life. 

5. Family photos

Most user agreements include giving away the rights to any photos or content posted on social sites. Any details associated with those pictures are then logged and potentially sold to third parties. This includes standard portfolio apps and websites for artists and athletes.

There is hope to protecting your family’s personal data!

There are measures parents can take to increase security for children online, including limiting the amount of data collected and sold. But here’s an even greater piece of encouragement: the spikeview platform was built on the principle that customer data belongs to customers. 

We will never sell your personal data. Rest assured that while young people are learning how to own their narrative on spikeview, they also own their data.