How Businesses Use Your Data Even If You’re Not Signed In
It’s not news that companies are mining and selling your data , but it’s not always clear how it works. The FTC recently released a report that explains in more detail how this works.
Consumerist has compiled this information into a useful list that you can check out at the link below (along with the original report), but one of the most important details is how companies can use your data in a “probabilistic” method, even if you You are not signed in. The consumer explains:
On the other hand, something probabilistic is an assumption – an educated guess – on the part of the advertiser. Let’s say you enter a shopping site from your phone at home. If it has the same IP address as your home PC, it increases the likelihood that both of you are. Then let’s say you are using Wi-Fi at work to log in again from your phone the next day, and you also logged in to this site with your work laptop, again using your IP address. This chain of A = B and B = C mathematically makes the computer make a pretty good assumption that A = B = C, and all three inputs are you.
The more you scan, the more clues you offer to support this approach, and worst of all, you don’t even know this is happening. For more information, follow the links below.
Tracking Various Devices (PDF) | FTC via Consumerist