“If it’s free, then you are the product.” We carry in our pockets devices that have powerful mechanisms for collecting our information–where we go, what we buy, and even how fast we move. Every time we scroll through social media on our phones, we are submitting extremely precise data about what we might be interested in… even down to how many seconds we slow down to look at an individual post. By using these products and services, we are in effect consenting to this data collection, which comes back to us in the form of targeted advertising. 

But is there an alternative? What can we do if we want to use these services but don’t want to give over so much of our personal information? Ryan Patersen’s company Unplugged is betting that there are many people willing to pay more for more privacy. The products and services Unplugged offers present a fascinating test case in how much people value their privacy, and Ryan joins the Data Privacy Detective podcast to tell us all about it. 

Learn more about Unplugged at their website – https://www.unplugged.com/ 

Time stamps:

01:23 – How do our devices collect data on us?

03:57 – How do companies use our data?

07:22 – What are the privacy risks?

08:44 – What is Unplugged doing differently?

14:10 – How much money is each user worth to the big tech companies as an ad delivery conduit?