Here’s What Google And Facebook Can Do With Your Data

I don’t pretend to be some sort of expert when it comes to technology.

I’ve had a computer since I was about 10 years old, got my first iPhone at the end of high school, and took an Intro to Python class that I sort of remember in college.

I realized that I can hear the word data and it’s one of those words that sort of just becomes noise in my ear, that I don’t really think about what it means.

It’s part of the compromise I make with myself every time I sign a Terms of Service agreement that would take days for me to actually read (which of course is by design).

Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s also destroying our society.

Here are some of the things Google can do, according to the Terms of Service agreement you signed:

• This service may collect, use, and share location data
• The service can read your private messages
• You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold the service harmless in case of a claim related to your use of the service
• This service tracks you on other websites

And here are some of the things Facebook can do:

• Your identity is used in ads that are shown to other users
• App required for this service requires broad device permissions
• This service tracks you on other websites
• The service may use tracking pixels, web beacons, browser fingerprinting, and/or device fingerprinting on users.

We hear the words “they have your data,” or “they’re selling your data,” or “they’re keeping my data” and we think of it as some ethereal thing that has no merit to our lives. The results of this theft are hidden from us, and in many cases, on purpose.

This week on Everything They Know, I speak to data experts both in government and in the private sector to try and better understand how data is captured and used, and what some of the darkest future timelines might look like.

Curious Audio is a partner of Rantt Media