How Much Is Your Personal Data Worth To You?

There have been many incidents of data breach recently so let me ask you some questions.

How much is your personal data worth to you?

And how much do you think the personal data you store about other people is worth? How much do you value securing it?

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Today we are going to explore some of the services you might be using on a day to day basis, that involve DATA and some of the implications of using those services that you might not necessarily be aware of.

I am sure you have heard the comment that there’s no such thing as a “free lunch” right?  And here’s the thing, you probably
already use a number of free services such as Facebook, email or Twitter or a variety of other software services or apps that are available to you for free.  But, since there is no such thing as a free lunch – have you ever wondered – how are you really paying for these services?

It could be that for some of them they actually just give you a lite version of their product because they want you to use the product, get really used to it, and make it part of your process.  Because they know that at some stage your team is going to grow, or you are going to want the extra functionality that only the pro version has.  So then, of course, you have to pay to upgrade, and everyone is happy – they have a paying customer and you have the product that you already know and like, that just got better.

But have you read their terms and conditions?  How much of ‘your’ data belongs to you, and how much belongs to them.  In Facebook for example, all the data belongs to them.  They can stop or delete your account anytime, and we all know about the Cambridge Analytica recent incidents which prove that Facebook control your data.  What about other apps and services?  Are you the data controller or are they – what are the implications of that under GDPR for you and the data you store about clients, customers or staff?

For other organisations, they sell on your data to other companies who believe you are a likely candidate for their services because of your previous purchase history.  Not all of these organisations are based in the EU and therefore easy to pursue for any breaches, or easy to opt out of.

There are also other organisations that tend to take the information that you give them and use it for a much more sinister purpose and you really have to be wondering where their information is going.

So I will challenge you to go away look at the services that you’re using and make sure that you have read the Terms and Conditions and you understand what they are REALLY costing you.

If it’s not costing you money,  it must be costing you data.