The Price of Convenience: How Free Services Monetize Your Data

You might have heard the saying ‘’Nothing is free in this world, and what is free is nothing’’ and it perfectly reflects most free services nowadays. Free services dominate the digital space, from email providers and search engines to more complex platforms and apps. 

As we interact with these services, we might not pay for their service without funds, but with our most valuable currency, personal information. This is a truth many don’t quite know about, so let’s shed some light on how free services abuse and monetize your data. 

Business Model Behind Free Services

Free digital services are a very convenient and valuable asset to anyone who uses the web. They offer convenience, accessibility, and functionality in specific aspects at no cost. However, while they do not charge you directly, they collect the data you provide them over time. From here, they can utilize your data to analyze it and create valuable profiles that they can go on to share and sell. 

This way of making money through your data and advertising is very deceiving and not that clear. So it is important that you understand how important it is to take control of your data and ensure your privacy. If you minimize the amount of data that is out there, you will reduce the value of your collected data profiles. As such, even if sold, they will give less value to advertisers willing to pay for premium data.

However, data collection doesn’t stop at advertising, as many companies sell collected data and behavioral insights as well. If data brokers get hold of this data, they can further target you based on the profile. But data is not collected just by browsing the internet or creating profiles on social media pages. A vast amount of collected data comes from apps that have too many permissions and abuse that fact to go beyond their initial functionality. This allows apps like a flashlight app with too many permissions to collect your contacts, location, and browsing history. The data collected often ends up in vast data ecosystems by design or accident, where it can be salvaged and used to construct deep profiles.

Impact on User Privacy

All of this may sound intimidating, but with not much personal significance, as many deem they are just irrelevant individuals. This is far from the truth, as there are many serious implications for everyone’s well-being and privacy. These collected data profiles can have many serious repercussions that can follow individuals, and these are:

• Data Leakage – Your sensitive information can be exposed because of insecure data storage or targeted breaches. In this case, all of your accounts, including e-wallets, could be compromised.
• Constant Tracking – Online behavior is often monitored across websites and apps, even when you are not directly interacting with some services. This happens because of cookies and tracking pixels, which can expose you to targeted advertisements and an all-too eerie personalized browsing experience.
• Identity Theft – Possibly the worst outcome that can come from vast data collected about you is identity theft. If you neglect your digital privacy and put too much of your data out there, malicious individuals could steal your identity.

All of these privacy violations are, at the very minimum, a personal inconvenience, but can quickly get out of hand. All it takes is just one data leak or breach for you to go through the pain of getting hold of all your accounts. At worst, you might have to attend court hearings and suffer through long cases because of avoidable mistakes. So take the time to learn how to protect yourself and utilize the effective strategies.

How To Protect Yourself

Luckily, protecting your data privacy and taking back control of your digital footprint is a doable endeavor. By opting to take a proactive approach to data privacy, you can minimize your data and better protect your privacy before any leak has the chance to happen. Some of the most important steps you can take are as follows: 

• Review Privacy Settings – Take the time to read through and adjust privacy settings on all major platforms, especially those that hold a lot of personal information. This is essential in limiting unnecessary data sharing.
• Read The Terms of Service and Privacy Policies – By taking up this tedious task and skimming the key points, you can easily assess if and how much data platforms collect.
• Install Tracking Blockers – Utilize extensions and add-ons to block trackers that monitor and follow your activity across websites.
• Utilize Password Managers – Password managers are the best tool to strengthen and diversify your passwords. Additionally, they are a great way to keep them all in one secure place.
• Limit App Permissions – Ensure that all apps on your smartphone and other devices only have the permissions they need. If you encounter any discrepancies, try to limit them or utilize 
• Use Data Removal Services – Services such as these will help you remove the data that is already out there. With this, you will significantly reduce your data exposure and ensure improved privacy.

As long as you follow these steps and regularly audit your digital footprint, you will keep a semblance of privacy in the modern world. Just remember to be informed and keep an eye out for any major data leaks that can affect you. With that, you are ready to take on the digital world with a whole new layer of privacy.