Sounds like a great way to listen to music right?
But there is a catch.
EvenAmazon Primeis aloyalty programin the guise of a subscription bundle.
They are promotions that are meant to make you buy and use their products and services.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
They have become so powerful thatFacebookandGooglehave bought their data to learn more about their users.
You see, the devil is in reading the fine print.
They are an easy means to earn freebies, or deals on products that you will buy anyway.
They are also a way to lock customers into their ecosystems.
Even in cases where you arent paying in money, youre paying for it by trading your personal information.
Some uses of your shopping information can seem innocuous enough.
So the bigger question is what are you trading for that free cup of coffee?
Is the trade-off worth the privacy sacrifice?
and vague phrases like personalization and better customer experience.
They arent entirely misleading.
But this information is also used for other purposes, like targeted advertising.
Theworld of data brokersis even more opaque.
Its still easy to match them up according to other information about you that they contain.
In the digital age, rewards programs exist largely to justify this sort of data collection.
What happens when data brokers lose control of your data?
Can your data besold to companies that have no legitimate use of that information?
Can it be used to deny you a job opportunity?
Can it be used to implicate you in a crime you didnt commit?
Can it be used to engage in unlawful discriminatory purposes by denying you services or offers?
Unfortunately, the answer to all of these is yes.
Complicating the matter are situations when such decisions rely oninaccurate information available with data brokers.
Heres the kicker though data brokers make these databases available for cheap.
What can you do?
Thankfully, people are becoming aware of some of the dangers associated with handing over their data.
These data points highlight the growing concern customers have in general about sharing personal information.
This isnt to say you should shut down all your accounts and disconnect from the internet.
But they also hinge on you voluntarily sharing your data.
But privacy isnt all-or-nothing, and it isnt one-size-fits-all.
