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Data Mining Companies Are Tracking Your Every Online Move
At this moment, every private detail about your life, from your favorite songs, to copies of your pay stubs, is being sold to the highest bidder. That’s because data mining companies are hacking your info and packaging it to sell to advertisers. They use it to pitch you personalized ads, so you’re more tempted than ever to buy. For example, if you download a Katy Perry song, trackers will package you as a “trendy teen girl” and you’ll be flooded with ads for makeup. Experts say that even if you have Secret-Service level computer privacy settings, that won’t stop data miners, because data mining is perfectly legal. Every time you go online - even to upload a Facebook photo – they track your electronic footprint.
Experts say the real danger of data mining is the guesses they make about you based on your Internet activity, which means there could be a lot of misinformation about you online. Dr. Ryan Calo is a Stanford Law school professor. He says that bum info could potentially prevent you from getting a credit card or cost you a job opportunity. For example, say you bought a Vegas vacation package one time. The online world may peg you as a regular gambler. So, lawmakers are trying to create a bill to block data mining. In the meantime, even though you can’t 100% block out trackers, experts say you can protect your online privacy with new computer software. Here are the top ones:
- PrivacyChoice.org. It lists hundreds of tracking companies that you can block with one click of a button.
- Or you can get your own electronic publicist. For twenty-five cents a day, you can hire Reputation.com. They’ll act like a P-R firm, and when someone Googles you, they’ll make sure flattering online search results pop up first.
- Finally, turn the tables on trackers and find out who’s spying on you with Ghostery.com. It’s free, and every time you click on a website, a pop-up window alerts you about which companies are grabbing your data.