We tend to ignore Privacy Policies when we use a website. When was the last time you read either one for a website you use regularly?
The contents of the privacy policy could include, amongst other data:
- What data is gathered about you
- What data (yours and third party data that it might have licensed or purchase) it uses
- How your data is used
If you care about your privacy and how your data is used, the privacy policy discloses a lot of this information. PII or Personally Identifiable Information (detailed information about you or that can be used to specifically identify you), can include your name, address, phone number, medical information, birth day, ID numbers, information about your family, where you go, purchases you have made and so much more. These are often detailed in the Privacy Policy.
As laws move towards more transparency and disclosure (such as California’s “Share the Light” or the California Consumer Privacy Act), you should familiarize yourself with the contents of the Privacy Policy which can include who to contact if you which to understand what data they have about you and/or how to request your data to be deleted.
Many sites, including the larger tech companies, have already begun providing links for you to download your own data that they have on you (oftentimes, the amount of data you download and the contents of that data is terrifying).
Control.My.ID provides tools for you to
- search through corporate privacy policies and their contents
- gives you tools and information to be able to contact those corporations
- gives you tools to be able to download your data and edit your privacy settings
Log in or sign up for an account to get these free tools.