Privacy Mythbusting #5: I own my personal information. (Not as much as you think.)

When you sign up for a website, you’re often presented with a “Terms of Service” that outlines how your data is collected and used. But, did you know that all that information about you, that you work so hard to protect, is rarely ever your exclusive legal property?

Most websites demand a perpetual license to your information, with rights to use it as they see fit. Some websites even grant themselves the right to sell your data individually, or even use your personal photos in advertisements for their service, all without your permission!

The site “Terms of Service; Didn’t Read” helps to summarize and rate terms of service for popular sites. They also have a browser add-on so you don’t even need to leave websites to check their ratings. As an example, look at DuckDuckGo compared to Google.

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