Summary

In this chapter, we explored the differences between data and big data, and how organizations use your personal data to understand your tendencies and propensities. We discussed how technologies such as the IoT and third-party data aggregators capture and analyze your transactions and activities to learn even more about your personal tendencies and propensities. We then explored data privacy efforts, both at the federal and state government levels to protect your data privacy, and how some organizations can just decide to ignore those protections for their own nefarious means. We wrapped up the chapter with a look at how one leading data monetization company – Google – provides free services in exchange for your data, which they subsequently monetize in a number of perfectly legal ways.

So, how can one protect themselves from being abused by their own data? The first step is awareness and vigilance. We must always be aware of how organizations capture and...