How do advertisers use your data? – FOX13 News Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s happened to all of us.

You talk with your friend about a cute pair of shoes. The next morning, you see ads for the product all over Facebook.

“You never really know who’s listening or who’s watching,” said Randall Thomas, who likes to use social media apps. “It’s just always kind of that thing in the back of your mind.”

“It’s just the times we live in,” said Derick Schroeppel, who has social media and banking apps. “They’ve probably been data mining for years.”

Protecting your data

“When it’s a free app, you’re the product,” said Jacob Park, a security engineer for MemFi Networks in east Memphis. “So you’ve got to understand that they’re earning money off of understanding you.”

Park told FOX13 that free applications use your data to create a profile they can sell to advertisers.

“At the end of the day, you shouldn’t give out anything more than you’re comfortable with,” he advised.

But who actually reads Terms of Service agreements that are fifteen pages long? He recommended this site: Terms of Service; Didn’t Read.

For example, the site warns that Facebook can read your private messages and view your browser history. Also, deleted content “is not really deleted.”

“It gives you a good synopsis,” he said.

Calls for transparency

Memphis residents told FOX13 that they want companies to be more transparent with users about what data is collected.

“I’d like them for them to be open and vocal on what’s available – what’s accessible to them,” Thomas said. “Also, why they need access to that data and if something’s going to change in the future.”

“Just think more about our privacy,” said Sky West. “If you wouldn’t want it done to you or your children, don’t do it to anybody else’s.”

Despite the push to hold developers accountable, many question whether anything will change.

“I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to stop them,” Schroeppel said. “No one’s going to stop using social media anytime soon. We like home autonomy and modernization, so I don’t know what we can do.”

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