Most of us give data away freely every day. But have you ever stopped to consider how much of your data is in the hands of big tech companies?
Spoiler alert: it’s a lot. Particularly for younger people who may not remember a life before the rise of social media, filling out their information can feel almost instinctual. Name? Sure. Zip code? No problem. While big data breaches get publicized and lead to flurries of concerned op-eds, few people pause before willingly handing over a wealth of personal information to tech giants.
This useful infographic lets you compare the data gathered by 6 tech giants: Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Amazon, and Microsoft. Twitter and Amazon collect the least information (with Twitter foregoing even names), while Google and Facebook learn absolutely everything about you, from the ads you click to your search history, to your workplace.
Ultimately, it can feel as though consumers don’t have a choice- or at least a realistic one. Sure, you could swear off all social networks, but that can be a lonely lifestyle, particularly if your friends live far away. So perhaps, when it comes to realizing how much data you’ve shared online, ignorance is truly bliss.