How do companies use my data?

Many say we are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the first was led by coal, the second by oil, the third, by the introduction of the Internet and the fourth by data. The statement “data is the new oil”, has often been used to emphasise this comparison. Data can be used in a variety of ways, making the usage of it ambiguous to individuals. 

To shed light on the value and usage of your data we presented some examples of how companies are leveraging data: 

The usage of data varies across different applications and industries. However the dominating applications of personal data are improving customer experiences and transforming it into cash: 

To improve your experience:

Many companies use your data to optimise their user experience. Based on what you do and like they can adapt their products and services to better suit your needs. How many times did you see an ad on TV that you didn’t care? They try to avoid this showing only what you could be interested in. This is one of the main benefits of online services as they are more efficient and they help you get what you need faster. 

Transform information into cash:

Google and Facebook generate the majority of their revenue by selling ads with Amazon also entering the ads distribution market. Companies willing to target new customers, trust in Google, Facebook and Amazon (GF&A) to present their ads to the most suited person. As selling targeted ads is the main source of revenue for two of the three companies, placing the right ad in front of the right person in the right place and at the perfect time is their main objective. To do so effectively, they want to understand you better by first collecting and then analysing your data. As explained in the introduction to do this kind of analysis is extremely costly and if each company had to do it on his own it would have to spend huge amounts of resources in it, not benefiting from the scale of the data as they would have a great number of competitors which would fragment the market. For this reason they depend on Google or Facebook and it doesn’t make sense for them to compete with them in this field. 

Below we give you examples of how specific data points can be used to understand you better:

Time spent on websites 

This metric can be used to understand what types of content you view, and type of person you are. In particular how much you are interested in something. If you spend 40 hours a week watching Netflix probably you are a series lover and will promote something related to that.

Categories of video watched 

When you use Google search, you look for something you don’t know, most of the time. Thus Google can understand what you are interested or curious about. Youtube can be considered similar but you can also follow Youtubers talking about something you like, thus it is easier to understand what you love. Of course this is a way to know you better. Additionally, a channel to sell different types of ads than on Google search.

Top friends 

By knowing your friends and their interests, companies can understand your interests. If many of your friends want to buy a certain product or view content, there is a big chance of you also being interested. In addition they can infer who had the most influence on your choices.

Top words used

The top words used in your conversations give firms an understanding of what you talk about and companies can access every sentence you write (depending also on the term of conditions of each provider, some can’t). Analysing the sentiment of your messages and emojis, they can understand when you are angry, happy, or sad also.

Top music

Knowing which music you listen to allows them to suggest you with good content but it also tells music producers what is trending and what is not, in every country, age etc. So music producers can assess their performance better and choose what to produce next. The music you like and listen to, also gives companies an understanding of your mood and which type of person you are (e.g. active, night person vs morning person) and thus sell more accurate ads at the right moment. 

To date, the usage and importance of data has not been communicated correctly causing then mistrusts between companies and users.

Rita Personal Data

Rita's mission is to bring the knowledge to the users and allow them to make an informed decision on who to who not give their data. We strongly believe this is the basis of a new and sustainable data economy. Sign up for our Alpha version.