Read the terms and conditions
Everything you share online is resold. And you have no problem with that. You wanted free online storage, free email and free access to social networks. You entered your details, scrolled through a bunch of text and clicked 'Agree.' Now every site with a Like button knows who you are, where you are and what you want most. In the meantime, the data dealers are making a lot of money.
Learn more about data dealers.
Paying with your privacy
Online services such as from Facebook, Google and Microsoft are often free to use. However, in exchange for the free access, you give up some of your privacy. For example, the services may analyze your photos, your likes, your location or the content of your posts and use them for commercial gain. For example, they may personalize ads, use your photos in advertisements and resell some of your data (anonymized or not) to third parties. In which they sometimes make clever use of the general terms and conditions, which you as a user often do not read.
Cookies
And this happens not only with the free services of the big tech giants that everyone knows. Websites and apps also often track what you do and collect this in cookies, for example.
Consciously choose the services you use and know what you are giving in return.
Are data dealers allowed to know everything about you?
Our tips for dealing with terms and conditions
- Use 'private browsing' . This prevents apps from knowing where and when you've been with your browser.
- Adjust privacy settings in the service or app.
- Check regularly that the privacy settings are still correct. Customizations and updates sometimes set them to settings that are favorable to the app provider, but unfavorable to you.
- Read the terms and conditions before clicking the 'read' tickbox.
