As you log on or sign in to start your holiday shopping, businesses will collect more than your money. Many also collect and even sell your personal data.
“If you have an account with an e-tailer, or if you use apps and sites that require logging in, some companies might keep files on you and even sell your information to data brokers, which are businesses that collect your personal data and sell it to other parties,” said Consumer Reports’ Brian Vines.
“The problem is you don’t know what these companies are doing with your data,” he said. “Some might have location data on you, which could hypothetically be used to see where you worship, where you protest, or who else you spend your time with.”
But limiting the use of personal data and trying to take back control of it isn’t easy. It’s often a manual process that’s tedious and time-consuming unless you use something called an “authorized agent.”
Several states have passed laws that allow consumers to designate a third party to make data requests on their behalf, such as Incogni, Mine, Yorba, and now, Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports’ Permission Slip is a new free app that provides information on how more than 100 companies use your personal information and lets you request that they stop selling it or that they delete it.
Even in states without such data privacy laws in effect, such as Texas, Consumer Reports says the app is still beneficial because most big companies will honor requests for everyone.