5 examples of how the internet misused your data
Tags: Privacy

It has perhaps happened to each of us at some point that when we use social networks and other internet services, we do not pay for them directly with money, but with something else. Those who have read more than “I Agree” in the registration terms and conditions understand that they are paying for their social media accounts with their personal data.

They also understand the general rule, that platforms collect and analyse personal data and sell it to their customers for the purpose of targeted advertising. However, the reality is often far more complex than one may expect. Mainly, the scope and the actual use of collected data are often surprising.

Facebook is watching you, even when you aren’t logged in.

Very few people know that Facebook collects information about its users and even non-users, even though they have left the platform of the social network itself. This is done by means of Like and Share buttons placed on other websites and special tracking software called Facebook Pixel.

The case of a cancer patient in the American state of Missouri illustrates everything that can be done with this collected data. In 2016, the patient sued Facebook for monitoring his activities on the website of a cancer treatment centre and collecting details of his possible treatment procedures. According to The New York Times, Facebook won the lawsuit due to convincing the judge that monitoring of users for purpose of targeting advertising is a standard business practice and that all users give consent to such monitoring when they sign up with the social network.

How a “personality quiz” helped Trump win the White House

Facebook, again. Perhaps everyone is aware of the scandal that involved an enormous leak of data to the company Cambridge Analytica. But did you know exactly how this data about tens of millions of users was collected and how the company used it to aid Donald Trump’s electoral victory?

A key element in the leak was an application posing as a personality quiz. The purpose of this was not the quiz itself, but rather the gaining of users’ consent to rummage through their Facebook data. Using psychological models, Cambridge Analytica formulated individually targeted advertisements based on that very detailed data.

As described by the ZDNet server, the campaign’s creators could then target a religious voter with messaging containing 30% religious themes, 20% pertaining to gun control and 30% addressing economic issues. At the same time, they would target that voter’s neighbour, a member of the NRA, with a mix containing a far greater proportion of messaging focused on gun control.

Do you often use the word “never”? We’ll raise your insurance premiums

Some time ago, the British insurance company Admiral came up with a way to raise the price of liability insurance among newly licensed drivers, i.e. young people who naturally do not have any prior record of driving behaviour. However, they do have a relatively extensive history on social networks, which the insurer decided to analyse. Based on the results of that analysis, Admiral would sort clients into higher- and lower-risk groups and set premiums accordingly.

So, if you write short and concise sentences, use lists or arrange meetings with precisely specified locations and times, you appear to be a trustworthy and organised client. Conversely, if you use words such as “never” and “always” more frequently than “possibly” and your behaviour on social networks indicates that you are overly self-confident, then the insurer will not hold a favourable view of you as a client.

In this case, however, Facebook spoke out against the use of its users’ data and put a stop to the insurer’s plan. However, particularly on markets where, due to a lack of other data, it is difficult to determine clients’ creditworthiness, analysis of personal data from social networks is used to screen loan applicants.

Keeping tabs on your ex, or Beyoncé

Sharing of users’ location data is essential for certain applications. An example of this is Uber, which directs its drivers to clients by means of such information. It has been shown that not only drivers see their customers.

After several cases involving the monitoring of journalists and politicians, it became apparent that the system called “God View” was fairly commonly misused by the company’s employees. They were able to locate and monitor a particular individual who interested them, thus keeping tabs on that person’s movements.

According to court testimony given by the company’s former forensic investigator Samuel Ward Spangenberg, Uber’s employees frequently monitored the location and movements of politicians and celebrities, as well as acquaintances, including former partners. Of course, this was done without their consent.

Tinder knows a lot more about your partner from last night than you do

Of course, some data is more sensitive than your taxi pickup location. British journalist Judith Duportail described for The Guardian what happened when she requested from Tinder a list of her data stored by the dating app.

To her surprise, she was provided with “eight hundred pages of her deepest, darkest secrets”. Apart from having been reminded of all of her brief relationships and conversations and the dates that she had arranged, the information stored by Tinder included her Facebook “likes”, her education, the age group of men she was interested in, the number of her Facebook friends, or the time and place of each of her online conversations with her Tinder matches. “Tinder knows me so well. It knows the real, inglorious version of me who copy-pasted the same joke to match 567, 568, and 569”, Duportail wrote.

Find out more about the value of your personal data: