The Cost of Free

January 14, 2018

Something I didn't know that was revealed to me by this article was how easy hackers, or location tracking services, can find out so much about me, including my identity, by observing my location patterns. This information is essentially made public when I agree to an app's privacy policy's terms and enable location sharing. Then I learned that though the policy may not explicitly state it, the company can share or sell my personal information to advertisers.

Then the article state that those who work for location tracking services state that trying to locate my location specifically is too much work for hackers anyway - however I'd rather not even have the chance. The fact that the simple press of a button necessary for the full functions of an app can make your location accessible by a multitude of people is unnerving.

I would like to know about any lawsuits filed against companies that were vague in their purpose of location-tracking. Surely the distribution and selling of private information should be a crime, at least I would hope so.

This article changes how I use my phone. After reading it, I went on my phone and checked all the apps on which I am sharing my location, and I realized that many apps were unnecessarily checked. Though they may already have my information, I turned location sharing off. I am definitely going to be more mindful of my online presence now, and make a point to thoroughly read through privacy policy to see if the company will say whether or not they will share or sell my information.

The lesson title, "The Cost of Free" means that a service that is free may appear to be free in the sense that it doesn't cost the user anything, however in reality it usually costs the user their private information; their location. This location is sold for a profit to advertisers, who then advertise location specific goods to the user. As a result, the information becomes public, and the user ends up sacrificing their privacy for a "free" service.

If I only had 60 seconds to explain "The Cost of Free" to a family member, I would say:

The apps you blindly allow to use your location aren't using your location just for the "service" they provide. For example a sports app may say that they are using your location to give you information about local teams, but in reality they are using this data to sell for a profit to advertisers or marketers. After this, there is no guarantee that your information or privacy will be safe. Your identity can then be traced by the location patterns - even your address can be revealed to companies you never contacted nor allowed access to. Every time you press accept or "I agree to the terms & conditions" you must thoroughly read the section on privacy, because a lot of times the little "summaries" are misleading and do not represent the extent to which a company uses and distributes your data.