Less seriously, you could even find yourself swamped with unsolicited email, an increased amount of junk postal mail, or more telemarketing calls. The benefits of being online far outweigh the risks, but being aware of the risks and knowing about available resources and support is important. Make sure you know whom you are giving private information to, why they need it, who will have access to it, how it is protected, and what it may be used for. Also find out how you can correct any errors, or remove yourself from a company's database. Using the resulting consumer profiles, advertisers create targeted advertising for any web site you visit.
Some sites work in covert partnership to convey visitor information to each other.
Data can then be compiled about you in many ways and places. If you are concerned about your privacy, you might find it helpful to research some of your interests anonymously, using one of several anonymizing web services as a proxy for your surfing. Another option is to use a disposable email address. A good disposable email address is separate from a personal or work email address and prevents strangers from easily gaining information about the sender merely by looking at the address. Good places to obtain disposable email addresses are web sites that offer free webmail, such as Yahoo or Hotmail.