what happens to our personal data on the Internet?

          What happens to our personal data on the Internet?

      The use of our personal data, saving very sensitive and private, as part of the collection of Big Data, and something that affects us all, therefore directly and very intimately.

     If companies covet so much personal data, it's because it allows them to have a huge competitive advantage.

     Indeed, personal data will allow companies to know their customers better, and thus meet all their expectations thanks to information from various sources, whether on social networks, applications, web browsing or connected objects.

     We provide companies with extremely useful information. This can be for example name, first name, contact information, so quite classical information, but today it can even be much more precise, like buying behavior, real-time geolocation, and even all your little secrets! All this to allow companies to know us better, to better target their customers and thus to adapt their marketing strategy.

     Basically, this means that each customer will be offered a product that will meet all their expectations, so we're talking about the hyper-customization of offers, which is what Amazon has been doing for years thanks to Big Data technologies.

          The marketing of our private data

      Amazon uses an algorithm to personalize shopping suggestions as much as possible, whether by email or when you browse their site.

     In fact, these purchase suggestions will be based on your latest searches or previous purchases, and even on information from other users who have the same profile as you, and all of this allows Amazon to maximize your purchases because it's based on what you really want to buy, so it allows them to maximize their profits! And it's very efficient because it works very well.

 

      Today we are all facing a dilemma: we are torn between the desire to enjoy the benefits of big data technologies, and the concern for privacy, and this is all the more true in the case of so-called free services, for example, we all have a Gmail address, while we know that google used to scan all our emails to get information about us to offer us suitable ads on the search engine.

     And we agreed to this deal because, in terms of free email, there is hardly anything better than Gmail, whether in terms of functionality, storage space or handling.

The problem is that we were so used to giving our personal data for services, that it became very commonplace, and that today we hardly pay attention to personal data given to companies.

     For example, most of the applications are free, but in return, it asked you a lot of personal data, there was real-time geolocation, web browsing, reading your SMS and MMS, the IMEI number and access to your calendar and contacts...

     Of course, the company was reselling the personal data of its users. That's where we can make a difference. Already as a user, be vigilant about the personal data that applications ask for.

     Then, as a consumer, privilege companies that have a responsible, and appropriate use of personal data, and that have transparent communication, for example, if a VTC company, geolocates you in real-time, while the application is off, you switch to its competitor.

     Tip to keep track of your personal data, and know what the company holds as personal data about you. For each company you will have to find a contact, usually, it's on their website, once you have this email contact address, asking them to send you what they hold as personal data about you. You can even ask them to stop using these personal data for commercial purposes.

     Obviously, when you send this email you must attach an ID to prove that it is indeed access to your personal data, and if the company does not answer you, you address yourself to the CNIL " CNIL means Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés. 

     The CNIL was established in 1978. It is an independent administrative authority that ensures that information technology does not infringe on freedoms, rights, human identity or privacy. "By presenting the justification that you have done the right thing, but that the company has not responded, the CNIL will take care of it in order to do you justice.

          General Data Protection Regulations

European Union law

      *1 Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation defines personal data as "any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person [...]; an 'identifiable natural person' is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier, such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to his or her physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity".

     This definition is slightly more extensive than the one contained in Article 2 of Directive 95/46/EC, which stated that the person becomes identifiable "in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity "4.

    *1 Source: Wikipédia

    *2 Regulation No 2016/679, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is a European Union Regulation that constitutes the reference text on the protection of personal data. It strengthens and unifies data protection for individuals within the European Union.

     After four years of legislative negotiations, this regulation was definitively adopted by the European Parliament on 14 April 2016. Its provisions are directly applicable in all 28 Member States of the European Union from 25 May 2018.

     The Regulation replaces the Directive on the protection of personal data adopted in 1995 (Article 94 of the Regulation); unlike Directives, Regulations do not require the Member States to adopt transposing legislation in order to be applicable.

     The main objectives of the DPMR are to increase both the protection of data subjects when processing their personal data and the accountability of those involved in such processing. These principles can be achieved by increasing the power of the regulatory authorities.
*2 Source: Wikipédia

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