Your information is a lot more accessible than you think. If you own a computer and have an online presence, chances are there are people out there who know a lot more about you than you may like.
This is the world of online privacy, or rather, the lack thereof. We are constantly warned about the dangers of releasing our personal information, but we still fill out form after form online, sometimes without giving it much thought. Be it social networks or online shopping sites, have you ever stopped to consider where all this information ends up?
According to Dwayne Winseck, professor of communications at Carleton University and expert on privacy issues, much of the information we put online is being accessed and used by third party companies.
Where does it go?
“I think at a very basic element, [information] is being gathered and collected by companies. They are selling it to other businesses,” Winseck said. “It’s important to recognize that our personal information is [the] foundation of business models.”
The information we release online is used to build a profile on us. These portfolios are passed along or sold to companies that will then use the information as a way of focusing their advertising to the public they want to reach, according to Winseck.
“The information is sold on to marketers and advertisers, but they’re also discriminating between audiences because not all audiences are equal,” he said.
“Some are considered more valuable than others primarily based on their capacity to spend.”
The idea that our personal information is being sold raises questions about why aren’t we more careful with disclosing our personal information online.
“We regulate ourselves often unconsciously in what kinds of information and how much we disclose to one another,” Winseck said.
“What happens when we go online is that normal social processes are basically ignored. The capacity to disclose or determine how much information will be disclosed is basically taken away, and [our] default position is full disclosure.”
How, then, can one ensure their information is secure? The only way to do so is deciding beforehand what to disclose online, and what to withhold.
Kris Klein, one of Canada’s leading legal experts on privacy and access to information, said there are a number of different places an organization might be able to find information about an individual.
“If an individual posts on Facebook, they have some degree of control as to how much information is available to the public, but not completely,” Klein said.
“Any information you put on Facebook is not deemed publicly available for the purpose of Canadian privacy law, so if an organization wants to collect that information, they can’t just say it’s publicly available and therefore I can grab it. They can only collect it if they have your consent.”
In several occasions, however, consent is automatically given when we check off the box agreeing to terms and conditions.
The fine print
“You have to pay attention to what [organizations] say in their privacy notices,” Klein said.
“Many organizations that do sell your information mask that fact by using tricky language. Any time you see an organization that says it will use your information or share it with partners, you can be assured they are profiting from having your personal information,” Klein said.
This can generally be attributed to all social networking sites, but what about when it comes to websites that we trust to keep our information confidential, such as online banking sites?
To have an idea of which websites are more secure when it comes to keeping personal information, Klein said more sophisticated organizations tend to use technology that keeps the information secure between the individual and organization.
That is not to say users should be any less careful. In the past years, there have been a number of reported incidents where glitches caused personal information to be compromised.
“We still have to be cautious in the sense that, while most organizations are starting to understand robust systems, mistakes do happen,” Klein said.
While our online information is integral to processes such as online banking and advertising, there is also a more complex process at hand. Unknown to users, there are profiles being made relating us to our online characteristics or patterns.
“If you happen to use Google Voice or other Google voice-based products, Google is involved in data-mining that. Their aim is to figure out how to understand with algorithms the words we’re using,” said Christopher Parsons, a University of Victoria PhD student researching privacy.
“If you look at Facebook, [they] are developing the largest biometric photo centre in the world. They can start suggesting names of people in your pictures. That’s based on biometric analysis,” Parsons said.
Personal information is also being used to build a profile on that some scholars call data shadow, according to Winseck.
“What ends up happening is we get spaces created online and advertising pitches that are based upon a model of who we are [online],” he said.
“That is based on data gathered upon us. Activity is aimed at our data shadow as opposed to us as individuals.”
Other than minimizing the amount of information we consciously provide, there is no way around this.
“One of the most common ways that people lose control is they disseminate more than they mean to,” Parsons said. “Small things like making sure the GPS function is turned off when sending a photo to a friend or being cautious with what you click can make a difference.”
Trust what you click
Also, knowing and trusting the source of links is a big part of keeping your personal information secure.
“Before I click a link, I make sure I trust it. Rather than clicking on the link, I’ll go to Google and run a search and let Google bring me there,” Parsons said.
“Let’s say what I’m getting is fraudulent, I’m less likely to accidentally get there by clicking the link because Google has a sophisticated way of blocking it.”
Being a conscious and careful online user is the best defense in the vast online world. Parsons’ method of ensuring links are not fraudulent can help, but it is ultimately up to you to determine what you will trust online.
The trait that sets trustworthy sites apart is their transparency. For example, Google uses the searches someone makes to provide advertisements geared specifically for them, but that is not hidden.
“It’s bad when a consumer is not given the choice. Google has come a long way in being transparent. They say, yes, we placed that ad because we think it’s relevant to you. But by being transparent and open about it, it demystifies it for a lot of people. If you don’t like it, you can opt out and receive more generic ads,” Klein said.
But along with these geared advertisements comes the problem of discrimination.
“The system decides what you can and cannot see along the side of your screen. This is when you get into ethics and behavioural advertising,” Parsons said.
Know your value
Depending on what kind of consumer the system determines you to be based on your online activity, is there any way to determine how much the average person is worth online? Maybe not on the whole, but for specific sites it might be possible.
In 2012, Facebook released its initial public offering road show in the form of a video, attempting to draw in investors. In one slide, they show the “2011 Advertising Average Revenue Per User.” According to Facebook, a Canadian or American user is worth $9.51, with Europe in second place at $4.86. They are followed by Asia at $1.79 and the rest of the world at $1.42.
“The Canadian user is worth [more] because, for one, we’re an affluent country and we spend a lot of time online, relative to international standards. So African users would be worth a buck, 1/9th the value of a Canadian,” Winseck said.
“This reflects the social judgements that build into economic models. With these fine analytical tools, the process of discrimination becomes all the more refined,” he added.
All of these issues play into the vast online world. Though it may seem like a simple point and click, there are a lot of factors playing into where your information goes and what information you receive.
And other than never using the Internet, there isn’t much to be done.
“I really don’t think we can find some happy middle ground. Our only choice is to agree or not use the service,” Winseck said. “There’s no easy way out.”
