3. Privacy: Personal data

Your personal information has a cash value. Advertisers and marketers are always looking to learn more about potential customers. Criminals want to impersonate you for fraud. Researchers and sociologists want to learn more about how different demographics respond to various things.

With the development of social media technology and with companies sharing data about their customers with each other, it is easier than ever to put together profiles about people. In many cases the individuals themselves will freely share their personal information. Watch this video demonstrating how easy it is for strangers to find out your personal information from just a Facebook Like. You will need YouTube access to view it.

This compilation and sharing of data poses a great risk to individual privacy, and new technologies are coming out all the time to help collect and tie together more information. Laws such as the Data Protection Act limit what data companies are allowed to keep about their customers and for how long, but it is up to every one of us to be more aware about how much we are saying about ourselves to strangers.