The days have come where customers’ data is stolen by many digital companies, privacy invaders, hackers, and governments. It is a fun fact that the government is stealing citizens’ information from various sources and using it to surveillance the activity. You may have thought about this on why do corporate companies, hackers, and others want your personal information? Allow us to answer it for you, so you can comprehend it and understand the importance of early protection.
- The New Oil
The word “data” is the new oil, and engrave this in the heart because you know how the world governments react when there is a trace of oil. Yes, you read it right and probably laughing by now, but this is a fact that nothing is going to change.
If you are reading this then you already know that companies like Google, FB, Twitter, Baidu, TikTok, Microsoft, and other apps are stealing users’ personal information. There is a strong reason for collecting the information, but what you need to know that it is the new oil in the world.
- Privacy Invaders
One of the big-time internet marketers said that “privacy is a myth by 2021” and it is 100% true. Millions of hackers have emerged over the years, who are working 12/7 to penetrate average consumer machines. An average consumer doesn’t have the strongest security layer, which means that they can steal sensitive data. The hackers will collect the credit card information and use it to dupe the people.
Don’t assume that it doesn’t happen in your region because it is happening across the world. Citizens are complaining about fraudulent transactions, and it is rising exponentially due to the global pandemic situation. Do not give or share or upload the information on apps, services, email, and social media.
- Data Miners & Sellers
You may hear about data theft, which is a common problem nowadays because it is a new way to make money. Now you can sell customers’ data to make a handsome amount of money from companies, networks, and corporates.
You can Serasa SA corporation based in Latin America, and it is a company that offers consumer data. The Latin American company was founded in 1968, and they have been doing business for a long time. The Brazilian Special Data Protection and Artificial Intelligence Unit (Espec) dragged the company to court, and the Justice Department has suspended Serasa SA for selling data.
Unfortunately, there are big-time data miners & sellers in the world who profit from selling customer personal information. Serasa SA was making $0.19 per real person, and they were selling more than 150 million people data.
- Corporates
We mentioned Serasa SA, who are profiting from consumer data then there has to be a buyer. The buyers are big-time advertisement networks including FB, Google Ads, Twitter, Instagram, Yahoo, Bing, and others. Remember, the advertisement networks promise the clients that will reach the correct audience to drive leads & sales.
The ad networks want personal data like,
- Name
- B) Gender
- C) Social Security Number
- D) Taxpayer Registration Number
- E) Address
- F) Devices
- G) Age
- H) Purchasing power
- I) Social class
- J) Location
- K) Race or ethnicity, etc.
The US Senates have grilled Google CEO, FB CEO, and other prominent players in the market to strengthen privacy policy to protect the citizens. You should never provide full personal information online because it can be used against you.
- Surveillance
There are only a few countries that protect the citizens from data theft, and China, America, India, Russia, and others don’t come into the category. Unfortunately, freedom of speech is not a law in many countries, but you will be surprised to know that Microsoft Windows collects users’ sensitive data.
We don’t write the truth while using Windows and stick to Linux OS to protect from privacy invasion. You can switch to Linux operating system like Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and others for maximum security. We are using Elementary OS 5.1.7 Hera for privacy and security.
Microsoft collects sensitive users’ information for unknown reasons, and it is not safe in our frank opinion. Constant surveillance has been reported by many whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and the American government is watching everyone.
Bottom Line
The world is losing billions of dollars in data theft, and one of the known invasions is hacking, holding data hostage, and data selling. You can protect yourself from it by keeping important information out of social media, digital services, and online websites. Let us know what do you think about data theft in the comment section below.
