European User Data is Shared 376 Times Per Day on Average

Violation of private data and the commercial exchange of said data are recurrent issues in the online world. After all, we don't know who has access to our data, what they're using it for, or how to get it removed - if that's even possible. In this thread, our community discusses personal data sharing.

This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, Sara Pinto, Arthur Tkachenko and Jack Boreham occurred in slogging's official #random channel, and has been edited for readability.

"Data about every internet user is shared hundreds of times each day as companies bid for online advertising slots, a report suggests.

https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/iccl-report-on-the-scale-of-real-time-bidding-data-broadcasts-in-the-u-s-and-europe/ found that the average European user's data is shared 376 times per day.

The figure rises to 747 times daily for US-based users, the report claims.

The revenue from digital adverts is what keeps most internet services free to use."

"The ICCL is currently engaged in legal action with the digital ad industry and the Data Protection Commission against what it describes as an epic data breach, arguing that nobody has ever specifically consented to this practice.

The data is shared between brokers acting on behalf of those wishing to place adverts, in real time, as a web page loads in front of someone who is reading it. The brands in the adverts themselves are not involved.

It includes information about the device the page is loading on, some details about where that device is, and other information such as previous websites visited and their subject matter."

"The ICCL's report figures do not include numbers from two advertising revenue giants - Meta (which owns Facebook) and Amazon.

It says the source of the data was a Google feed covering a 30-day period. It is made available to the industry, but not the public.

Google has been contacted by the BBC for comment.
The report claims that:

"Tech reporter Parmy Olson, writing for Bloomberg, said: "If the exhaust of our personal data could be seen in the same way pollution can, we'd be surrounded by an almost impenetrable haze that gets thicker the more we interact with our phones.""

Violation of private data and the commercial exchange of said data are recurrent issues in the online world. After a while, we don't know who has access to our data, what they're using it for, or how to get it removed - if that's even possible.

What are your thoughts on the numbers shown in this report and how data is being handled at the moment?

Mónica Freitas It gets me thinking about all the data I've put out there and how safe my information is. However, it doesn't surprise me. Even a few months ago, I saw a ridiculous list of data that was shared about numerous users of Facebook, if I'm not mistaken. For advertising, this must be pretty good, but it's worrying that this is the reality

Sara Pinto, do you remember what sort of data was being shared?

Sara Pinto, I get that it's for marketing purposes, but you should be able to agree or deny your own data sharing. Instead, companies are profiting out of selling your data without your knowledge. It doesn't sit right with me.

Mónica Freitas, I believe it was the public data you already have on your Facebook and some users' emails.

Mónica Freitas, I agree. It feels very weird, even if it is some public info that you have in your profile. However, they probably mention something in those tiny letters on the terms and conditions that we never read.

Sara Pinto, that's probably true. That's something I tend to ignore - the terms and conditions. Our fault in that sense.

Arthur Tkachenko, thanks for sharing the articles!

Interesting, I didn't know Apple and Google were the only data managers/trackers.

Blimey this is scary, thank goodness we left the EU😉

Jack Boreham, ahaha, now that's a solution.