Nowadays we expect a lot of things for free on the internet. Whether you want to watch videos on YouTube, send email, access vast global maps, or connect to your friends on social media, providers are expected to offer all of these things for free to their customers.
But what you might not realise is that through your participation in these free online activities you are in fact the product that is being sold. The provider of that service is allowing advertisers to specifically target you based on your online habits.
This sort of targeted advertising is really valuable to any business and so our personal data is something we’ve had give up to these companies as a trade-off.
Today’s infographic looks at how companies use personal data so that they can afford to provide these free online services. Are you happy with giving up your personal data in exchange for using them?
