Corporations can now compile and analyze unprecedented volumes of unstructured data created by humans, such as the text contained in company documents, email, instant messaging, and social media. This poses the question one of the greatest ethical challenges of our time: how we use or abuse digital technologies and the data they generate.
What happens to this data, and can it be used against us?
Read more at the Harvard Business Review
You’ve probably heard about data encryption before, but if you still aren’t exactly sure what it is, here’s the scoop on data encryption:
The purpose of data encryption is to protect digital data confidentiality. Data encryption uses an algorithm, which translates the data into another form or code. Without a secret encryption key, this data is unreadable.
Encryption is one of the most widely used and effective data security methods used by organizations to transfer data.
• When you use your credit card online, your computer encrypts that information so that others can’t steal your personal data as it is being transferred.
• When you see the 
image, it means that there is an encrypted link between the website’s server and your browser.
Advertisers, websites and data brokers are having a ball with your data.
First-party data is the data you give away willingly to websites. Advertisers and publishers can extract and compile data by requiring you to register online and by then analyzing your activity.
Example: your email address, name, pages you like, ads you click, etc.
Third-party data is information that’s collected by an entity that doesn’t have a direct relationship with consumers. This data is normally compiled by specialist firms who pay websites to collect information about their visitors. This data is then used to piece together detailed profiles about users’ tastes and behaviors as they browse the Internet.
Example: an advertising tracker will place a cookie on your browser and see where you go so you see ads for things you want. (Maybe those shoes?)
Second-party data is the newcomer to the scene. It is essentially first-party data that another party obtains directly from the source. This data isn’t given away directly—it usually is obtained through a direct relationship with another entity. Deals can be made between publishers or a Data Management Platform (DMP). Or simply between two parties who could benefit from each other’s first-party data.
Example: a pet store sharing data with a veterinarian, who both have similar clients.
Collecting and dealing with all that information requires a wide range of different players. Data brokers earn their living by helping advertisers and publishers manage their own first-party data, as well as selling them more data about users.
“Companies stress that they do not know users’ names. But they identify them by numbers, and as they build up detailed profiles about those numbered users, there is concern that the information might be traced to individuals.”
– The Economist
All this data is divided into segments defined by location, device, marital status, income, job, shopping habits, travel plans and many other factors. These segments are then are then auctioned off to buyers of ad space in real time.
While data sharing can lead to products and services that make your life easier, more entertaining, economical or even informational, it is important to be aware of your data. So, whether it’s your first-, second- or third-party data, it is important to understand where your data goes, and how it is used.
Sources
https://hbr.org/2015/05/customer-data-designing-for-transparency-and-trust
https://www.wired.com/insights/2015/03/internet-things-data-go/
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