How to prevent your data from being sold to third parties
Credit card data in particular is extremely valuable
(InvestigateTV) — Consumer advocacy group U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) has issued a report on companies selling customer data to third parties.
PIRG’s report specifically highlighted MasterCard, noting the company has “increasingly capitalized on the transaction data it has access to in the course of being a payment network.”
In her report, IRG Tech Advocate R.J. Cross said the transaction data collected by MasterCard includes information on where people shop, how much they spend and even which days they shop.
“It sells that information to third party companies,” Cross reported. “It sells this information on these big online data marketplaces where companies can pay to access information about consumers and their spending behavior.”
In a statement, a MasterCard representative said the company does not sell individual transaction data while clarifying the company only analyzes anonymized purchased information, which are subject to established controls so it can’t be used to identify any individual cardholders.
To be fair, MasterCard is not the only company to do this, but Cross shared in her report that MasterCard’s position as a global payment technology company means it has access to a large amount of information from the financial lives of millions of people, the sale of which is almost entirely unregulated.
She also says exposure to targeted advertising can be bothersome to consumers.
“Americans owe more money on their credit card debt than ever before, it’s over $1 trillion! And interest rates are high right now! And so increasingly-this data driven advertising may not be all that great for people in the long-term,” Cross explained. “And it can lead to those confusing, sometimes creepy ads that seem to know exactly what you bought and they’re following you around in all of the screens in your life!”
Cross also said selling data to third parties increases the personal security risks for consumers, since the more companies that hold the data, the more likely it is that information will end up exposed in a breach or hack.
To prevent this, PIRG encouraged consumers to try opting-out of their data being used for analytics when possible, although it’s unclear to what extent this stops the company from monetizing your data.
PIRG has a tips guide that outlines specifically how you can opt out.
Cross also said consumers should not be afraid to speak up.
“Definitely emailing Mastercard’s privacy email and making your concerns known is a really powerful thing that people can do,” she suggested.
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