Customers Data Usages in Companies

We live in an age when many of us are addicted to technology. Computers, phones, smart watches, even smart cars have been making our lives easier. Due to the fact that we are connected to the internet, we are able to be connected to everything. The ability to figure out the score from last night’s game with just a simple google search or even the ability to video chat with someone across the world has shown us that the impossible has been reached.

Technology has given us so many benefits, but what everyone tends to overlook are the consequences. What we seem to hide in the shadows is that technology might be worse than all the advantages put together. The issue with technology is that we have to give up some part of our privacy to be able to use it.

When it comes to being connected to the world, we must be more transparent than we we wish to be. Connecting to the internet, something will always be recorded no matter what. We give up some of our privacy just to connect to the internet. Even just giving a small amount of information cause We seem to not have an issue with that, so why do some think it’s wrong with an application or device takes information from us without the user’s consent? Users like to know what kind of information they are giving out and being used. It helps give them a feeling of being secured and knowing that they still have some privacy. In terms of privacy, users want to make sure that their information hasn’t been exposed to people or companies they do not wish for them to know.

A few years ago, a Netherlands company that had made the TomTom in-car GPS system was caught using customer’s information without their consent. The company had told the customers that they were gathering data from everyone to help build more intelligent information on traffic and directing the user. According to La Times, they sold the data to officers to be used to find places where drivers had sped faster than the deserved speed limit in locations. There they had formed speed traps and placed speeding cameras. What the company had done was use the data for secondary use and analyze the data to figure out patterns and develop information on locations and speeding. This had caused an outrage with the customers. They had been lied to and their personal information was sold to a third party.

Despite the fact that the company had told their customers that they were using the data for something, they had gone out and used it for a different purpose. This right there seems just like lying to someone about what an object can do, so they can just sell something that does nothing. The ones whose data was sold the the officers had been only the people who agreed with their data being collected for traffic safety. They had agreed to give out their information, but only for the reason that was stated. It is completely reasonable for customers to be sparked with anger to find out that the data they agreed to be given out was for a different reason.

This is a perfect example of a company exploiting customer’s privacy to a third party. Since they had not told their customers about the true reason, it violates the relationship between the company and the customers. A person has the right to sue someone for the disclosure of their private information being leaked to a third-party. With TomTom, a customer could sue the company due to them selling their information without consent. Companies need to understand that a customer’s privacy is just important as their privacy. To a researcher or even as a customer to TomTom, they might just seem like a greedy company wanting money instead of protecting their customers. The company had used the customer’s information without authorizing the use of it by the customer.

Users want to make sure that their information that they are giving out to an application or to a device is being used as what intended. Even if the data is anonymous, companies should not have the right to do something with the data that they did not state to the customer. Technology may be able to hide the ways how information can be leaked, but users need to understand the consequences of using anything that is connected with the internet. That does not mean everyone should stop using technology, but become more aware with that is going on behind the scenes and make sure that the information they are putting out there is not being abused by the company they are putting their trust in. Customers and Companies need to make sure that they are on the same page with their privacy terms and conditions. That will help make sure there would not be confusion or any privacy violations that can happen between the two.

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