The Cost of Free

We want privacy. We are angry we feel violated when someone steals out identity or misuses our information. We fight for the right to remain private - and yet, we willingly give it up with but one click of a mouse button. Small business owners – private citizens, it doesn’t matter; if a service comes along that says FREE, we clear all hurdles to grab it.

Bottom-line – nothing is free. Quit kidding yourself and start protecting your privacy.
Logic tells you that a company who goes through the expense of setting up a website, carries the monthly charges associated with hosting that website, pays for every employee in the company and advertises that same site to the tune of thousands of dollars - does not – will not - can not - afford to give ANYTHING away for free. They want something, and that something is you.

They will either generate an income from advertising space sold to others, or the sale of your information to advertisers with whom they are associated with, or partners for.

Don’t believe me? Here are excerpts from a couple of FREE service providers many of you use today. Just because you always click through the users agreement saying “yes I read that” - doesn’t mean you did.

Here is what they say:

"We will not collect or use sensitive information for purposes other than those described in this Policy and/or in the specific service notices, (reread this phrase) unless we have obtained your prior consent. "

They then describe in explicit detail - in the policy itself, how they will use the information which means they have informed you of the use of your personal information and you are agreeing to it by agreeing to this terms of use and privacy information. Then this same agreement goes on to say:
“You can decline to submit personal information to any of our services, in which case ___________ may not be able to provide those services to you.”

In other words - hit decline – don’t agree to our using your personal information, and you cannot use the service.

They go on to say:

______________ cookies - When you visit _____________, we send one or more cookies - a small file containing a string of characters - to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser. We use cookies to improve the quality of our service by storing user preferences and tracking user trends, .. . . . .

Your computer – attached to that browser – has a unique ID or footprint. In many cases, those cookies are tracking cookies that track where you go on the internet, what browser you are using, what sites you read and for how long, what information you subscribe to, how long you are on the internet, etc.

Then: (and this is where they get you)
" ______________ only shares personal information with other companies or individuals outside of ______________ in the following limited circumstances: We have your consent. We require opt-in consent for the sharing of any sensitive personal information. "

The minute you hit “approved” or “agreed”, you are “opting in” and consenting.” This is not a separate consent form as they are implying.

Bottom Line

If a company offers subscriptions, make sure their privacy policy explicitly states they do not sell or otherwise use your personal information in any way. After all – their income comes from the subscriptions and you are paying for privacy. For an example of how that agreement would look, take a look at the Privacy Statement and Terms of Use for FileShare-Pro.com (linked with their permission) This is the system I use for all client project documentation and file exchange.
Carefully read all agreements and privacy statements. The above are excerpted from two of the more popular and less abusive companies on the internet. Others have no scruples, and even these two companies are getting very pervasive in their quest to track you everywhere you go.

Note: One – major - major player in this market – has even filed a patient request for a user tracking system that monitors your blood pressure and chemistry coming off of your finger tips as they run the keyboards and mouse. The reason? To track how you feel and the emotions you display, when you land on a site.

I am not kidding.

It is important that you understand, however, that no website or database is completely secure or “hacker proof”. You are also responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect your personal information against unauthorized disclosure or misuse. For example, by protecting your password and knowing where you are going.

Adherence to your own instincts and common sense with a slight touch of healthy paranoia are good things to cultivate today.

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Copyright 2008 - Gary A. ClarkGary Clark is a Freelance Commercial Writer and Web Content writer who for 25 years has been both a Consultant and instructor of Small Business Entrepreneurship. He can be reached by e-mail at GAClark@Write4me.net, or by phone at 719-536-0505- Mon thru Fri / 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (MST)