Dislcaimer: Yes, I know it is unlikely any large company will examine your personal data as an individual, the fact that they could be is enough for some concern, for some.
So recently there have been a lot of these apps which advertise "getting money for free" or "do exercise for amazon gift cards" etc. And I used to be a sucker for all of these things, I didn't care that they had a crap-ton of ads because I'm young and want free stuff.
But I have a friend who always read privacy policies, and the terms and conditions. I thought he was crazy and looking for the secret message about winning $10,000 or something. We've all heard that story. But I decided to take a look at the privacy policy for a particular app known as Sweatcoin, which requires your GPS to function.
And it turns out they can do a lot with your data. It started to freak me out as I realised that I was basically selling myself out and giving away data about where I live, where I work. And we know that with a small bit of analysis, you can pretty much figure out anything if you have the right data and in enough quantities. For example when target deduced that one of their customers was pregnant. Now I know that this is a pretty simple example, but the point could be expanded.
What I'm saying really, is that so many people give away data unknowingly, it worries me what these big corporations could do with it. It's not all bad though. For example, I don't mind Google using my location to improve traffic updates on GMaps, or to be able to tell me how busy the gym is on a Wednesday evening. That is cool, and really useful. But I don't think people realise that data is as valuable as it is, and that people are being ripped-off for their data.
All I'm asking Is that you read carefully what you opt-in to as you might be surprised as to how much a company might be able to find out about you and sell it on to other companies. It certainly had me rethink what kind of info I was giving away.
Edit: Shpelling