[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/20\/ways-to-protect-your-personal-data\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/20\/ways-to-protect-your-personal-data\/","headline":"Privacy, please! 3 ways to protect your personal data","name":"Privacy, please! 3 ways to protect your personal data","description":"Heard of \"Off-Facebook Activity\" settings? Learn how companies are tracking your data, and how to protect your personal data.","datePublished":"2020-02-20","dateModified":"2023-02-05","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/stephanie-thum\/#Person","name":"Stephanie Thum","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/stephanie-thum\/","identifier":334,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05bbc9017e3f89b9d6d4846c0cf0828093f534181adceca83e1773c2378f6385?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05bbc9017e3f89b9d6d4846c0cf0828093f534181adceca83e1773c2378f6385?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/thumbnail-fd2edb816d587b1369bb5655645ece0c.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/thumbnail-fd2edb816d587b1369bb5655645ece0c.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/20\/ways-to-protect-your-personal-data\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-data\/","name":"Customer Data","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_data","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q56278300"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/cdp-customer-data-platform-solution\/data-privacy\/","name":"Data Privacy: Laws, Consumer Expectations","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Consumer_privacy"]}],"wordCount":1285,"keywords":["2020 Trends","Customer Data","Data Privacy","Data Protection"],"articleBody":"It was the late 1990s. My then-boyfriend\/now-husband and I popped into Radio Shack, an electronics store, to buy a small part for our home entertainment center.We set our $5 item on the counter to pay. The clerk smiled and readied his hands to type information on a keyboard that was attached to the cash register.\u201cName, address, and phone number, please?\u201dMy husband shook his head no, declining to give the clerk that information while still pulling money from his wallet to pay.\u201cWell, I can\u2019t sell you this item unless you give me that information,\u201d the clerk shrugged.\u201cIf I make up a name, address, and phone number right now, then can you sell it to me?\u201d\u201cWell, we don\u2019t want that!\u201d the clerk retorted.\u201cAnd I don\u2019t want to be part of your marketing experiment,\u201d my husband replied.We walked out, went somewhere else for the part, and never returned to Radio Shack.(Side note: Radio Shack eventually changed its in-store customer data collection practices. They also declared bankruptcy in 2015 and 2017 and closed hundreds of stores.)      Why you need a data platform: Top 5 data privacy issues                An overwhelming majority of consumers state they'll stay with and pay more to a brand they trust. Learn the top data privacy issues driving - or breaking - their trust.      Consent: Who\u2019s responsible for data privacy?You can probably think of at least one time when you\u2019ve given your personal information to a company during an online or offline transaction: your name, home address, phone number, e-mail address, credit card number, birthday, health information, social security number, or bank account number. But how to protect your personal data in an era of data breaches and hacking?But chances are, you probably have no idea how many companies wind up actually possessing your data because your original \u201cok\u201d came with a chain of \u201coks\u201d to share that data with other companies.And that might not necessarily be a big deal – if it was a given that those other companies were mindful and protective of your most sensitive credit card, health, or financial data.Or that it wouldn\u2019t eventually become part of a security incident or data breach.But unfortunately, that level of consumer trust in business isn\u2019t there. And with 2,000+ data breaches reported in 2019 alone, maybe that\u2019s with good reason.According to a November 2019 study by the Pew Research Center, 79 percent of Americans aren\u2019t confident \u201cthat companies will\u2026 take responsibility if they misuse or compromise personal information.\u201dThe same study said 69 percent \u201chave this same lack of confidence that firms will use their personal information in ways they will be comfortable with.\u201d      GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD: Time for a global consumer data privacy strategy                Companies can do more to protect consumers\u2019 data privacy, and it\u2019s in their best interest to do so. Learn the requirements of GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD.      Who has power over your data? Generally, not you.At the moment, data privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA are a step toward customers having greater control of the data they share with the businesses. But legislation is complex, which means it won\u2019t be easy for companies to implement. Meanwhile, their privacy practices may be slow to change.So how can you take at least some control? You\u2019ve probably heard the standard, spot-on advice about changing your passwords regularly, setting up a PIN for your mobile device, keeping your malware defenses updated, being careful with free wi-fi, securing your home wi-fi, and not clicking on strange links in strange e-mails, for example. Maybe you\u2019ve done those things, and maybe you haven\u2019t.      No more creepy! Gain a competitive edge with data privacy                Companies spend billions each year to boost consumer love, but customers are increasingly resistant to give it. Data privacy can lend a competitive edge.      How to protect your personal data: 3 waysRead up! According to the Pew study, 59 percent of Americans know nothing or very little about what is done with the information companies collect about them. So, find out! Read the privacy policies of the places where you do business.Yes, yes. I know! Privacy notices aren\u2019t sexy, right?! They\u2019re nowhere near as relaxing to read as that New York Times best seller you picked up for your beach trip last summer. But what you read in a privacy notice may daze you just as much as the plot twist in that beach read.I recently came across a privacy notice for a bank that shares sensitive customer data (social security number, account balances and transaction history, credit history) with other companies even when customers are longer customers. It also won\u2019t let you say no to their sharing your data with other financial companies.The notice doesn\u2019t detail those other companies or their data protection practices, but we do know that, according to a study by Verizon, about 10 percent of breaches occur at financial services companies. (Can you hear me now?)To be fair, the bank is doing what the law allows. By reading up, at least you\u2019ll understand what power you have over your data and be ok with it, limit sharing, or decide to walk away from the relationships or transaction.Dig into the settings of your online life. Most people seem to understand that websites and apps collect information about your browsing, location, and purchase history. You open an app or sign into a site, buy something, and have the item shipped to your house. You then sign out or close the app. It may not bother you that the company tracks that data for their own purposes. But that\u2019s just the beginning.A new feature within Facebook\u2019s privacy settings called \u201cOff-Facebook Activity\u201d just shined a spotlight on the likelihood that just about every website or app you use links your browsing and purchase activity back to your account on Facebook.I checked my \u201cOff-Facebook Activity\u201d settings and discovered 491 websites had linked data about my visits, browsing history, and purchases back to Facebook. The same Facebook that has been plagued by data breaches in the past couple of years \u2013 this is a troubling data privacy concern.So navigate to the privacy settings on your social media profiles, free e-mail accounts, and web browsers. Understand what you\u2019re sharing, and how you can use the privacy options to control what you wish.Say something. If you don\u2019t like the data privacy policies where you do business, or if you find them confusing, then speak up. Put that feedback on a comment card, in an e-mail to the company, or on a survey. Right now, several U.S. states are working on privacy legislation. The U.S. Congress is considering multiple bills toward a national data privacy standard (although they\u2019ve been slow to advance). Companies that collect and share your personal data can do so only to the extent the law allows. So, contact your elected officials and support laws that are in line with what you expect as a consumer.Some say the conversation around data privacy is just getting started. It\u2019s been a thing at my house since the \u201890s. But the rise of the internet, mobile devices, smartphones, and social media has made the conversation more complex.However, awareness is building. Some technology companies are already developing products that include considerations for consent and privacy in the product design. That\u2019s great news for what lies ahead for customers who want more control over their personal data.  59% more contactable customers. 100% data security compliance. 10%-20% above average email open rate. Find out how it’s done HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"02","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/02\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"20","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/02\/\/20\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Privacy, please! 3 ways to protect your personal data","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/20\/ways-to-protect-your-personal-data\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]