It Is Bad to Make Money from Selling User Information

It Is Bad to Make Money from Selling User Information
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
It Is Bad to Make Money from Selling User Information
Introduction
Data generates a significant value for both companies and individuals. For this reason, data has grown to be a $300 billion a year industry with over three million employees in America alone (Associated Press, 2018). In 2017, Facebook made a total of US $40 billion from advertising revenue, which was made possible by user data (Associated Press, 2018). Aside from social media sites like Facebook and Google selling rights to their user’s information to third parties, other data-brokering firms make money from peering into people’s personal lives and gathering private information to sell to clients. The information is useful to companies in that it helps them to know more about the individual in terms of their preferences. Such information will enable the company to morph into an environment that is fit for the customer. Nonetheless, the use of private information without the user’s consent can be considered unlawful. The current policies that have been implemented to protect user information have not been effective as companies fail to adhere to these laws. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the website to safeguard user information instead of selling it.
My Claim
It is wrong to make money from selling user information. User information is private and should not be used by companies to make profit. The means of gathering private information such as those employed by data-brokerage firms can also be considered unlawful. More so, it is invasive since the sale of data is an underhand and opaque practice that disrespects the user’s privacy, and there are no laws that restrict the use of personal data by third parties.
Importance
The issue of selling user information is an important subject, especially for users since most individuals do not have an idea that the information they provide will be sold to third parties. Because of this, users disclose private information knowing that it will be secured by the website. Also, the sale of user information has led to the development of unlawful means of acquiring user information without their knowledge. Individuals should be aware of how companies such as Facebook and Google are using their data so that they can decide whether or not they want to share their personal information.
Reason 1
The sale of user information will encourage hackers and other organizations to gather information from clients illegally.
Companies such as Facebook and Google request the user to provide their information in exchange for using their services. However, when the companies start selling the private information, it would encourage other parties to develop other means of gathering information from users to sell to third parties. An example would be malicious mobile applications that can be downloaded for free. Such applications contain malicious codes that put a user’s privacy at risk (Cuthbertson, 2018). Resultantly, the developer is able to track and extract crucial information, including contacts, media, and messages which can then be sold to third parties.
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