Tag: collecting data

Businesses Are Collecting Data. How Are They Using It? | Business News Daily

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Many businesses collect data for multifold purposes. Here’s how to know what they’re doing with your personal data and whether it is secure.

  • Businesses may collect consumer data and use it to power better customer experiences and marketing strategies. They may also sell this data for revenue.
  • The European Union’s General Data Protection Requirements (GDPR) is a comprehensive law that regulates any company with EU-based shoppers. California, Colorado and Virginia have enacted similar laws, though there is no federal equivalent.
  • Use VPNs, employ ad blockers, avoid linking apps, choose nameworthy apps and sign up for non-essential services with fake information to protect your data.
  • This article is for consumers who want to know how businesses use their personal data and how to protect this data.

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Unsurprisingly, TV streaming devices are collecting data, too | Mashable

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A new report seems to confirm what you could probably already guess: that, like every other device you own, some TV streaming devices are collecting lots of data about what you do.

The report comes from Princeton University and the University of Chicago, and focuses on two platforms: Roku and Amazon Fire TV. To see what apps on these two services tracked, the people behind the study created what they call “smart crawlers.”

They essentially did the same thing humans would do — install apps (the top 1,000 on each device) and watch videos — while taking a look at the data that was collected any time an ad was shown. You can guess where this is going.

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Many popular iPhone apps secretly record your screen without asking | TechCrunch

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Many major companies, like Air Canada, Hollister and Expedia, are recording every tap and swipe you make on their iPhone apps. In most cases you won’t even realize it. And they don’t need to ask for permission.

You can assume that most apps are collecting data on you. Some even monetize your data without your knowledge. But TechCrunch has found several popular iPhone apps, from hoteliers, travel sites, airlines, cell phone carriers, banks and financiers, that don’t ask or make it clear — if at all — that they know exactly how you’re using their apps.

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