Are you in control of your private data?

While the new pleasures and conveniences of the digital age cannot be denied, it is now standard practice for companies to track, extract and use our data, recording our internet searches: monitoring our interests and then flogging it all back to us through personalised ads.

Our times are now defined by all kinds of anxieties about the harvesting of our data – and the uses it is put to without our knowledge or consent.

Do you know who has, and what is being done with your data?

With major data scandals about data breaches and misuse being announced every week, from Google and Microsoft to  gambling firms, here’s Resolver’s advice on dealing with your data.

Dealing with your data

Loads of people are telling us they’re worried about what businesses are doing with their data – and we don’t blame them. Many of the big businesses that have been in the news lately, like Facebook and Google, don’t make it easy to make complaints.

Others, like Amazon, Uber and Apple, insist on you using their own complaints systems – so it’s hard to know if their customer service is any good or not (though from what you’ve been telling me, it’s often not great).

As a consequence, tackling data breach and misuse complaints is something that’s very much on our minds at the moment.

The good news is there are things you can do already if you think your data has been mishandled:

Check and update your settings

From social media to shopping sites, go in to the settings/profile pages and change everything you can that will stop the sharing of your info. Do it while you’re watching the TV or listening to the radio so it’s not such a chore!

Keep your log ins to yourself

Remembering passwords is a real pain – as is typing in long email addresses and log in details. So when you get the option to log in using other websites so you don’t have to input all that info, it’s tempting. Watch out though, if you use Facebook or Google to log on to websites, you’re allowing them to access and share data from your various accounts.

Taking the extra 30 seconds to log-in direct will stop you from giving away your data – so may be worth it. You could always use a password manager to simplify your login – securing your accounts without making big tech corporations the keepers of all your keys.

Find out what’s on file

You’re entitled to ask a business to give you copies of the information held on file about you, either informally or through a ‘subject access’ request. The Information Commissioner’s Office has a great guide on their website on how to do this.

Check out the Resolver Guide to Making a Subject Access Request 

Report bad practice

Resolver has heard from so many people reporting their email service providers asking their users to opt out of targeted advertising – then expecting them to individually do this for hundreds of organisations. That’s totally unacceptable. Make a complaint and tell the business to opt you out of everything. They shouldn’t be making life difficult.

Getting serious

Sometimes  data breaches can have significant consequences. We’ve seen complaints about private information left on trains, credit card details sold to fraudsters abroad and in the most serious cases, information on people’s identity and location disclosed to violent former partners. Wherever we work, we have a responsibility to protect the data we hold on file. If you spot poor practice, report it.

How to complain

If you think a firm has mishandled your data, you can report them and make a complaint to the Information Commission or even make a claim to the company for compensation.

We have some guides to help you figure out whether you have been a victim of malpractice, whether from data breaches or data misuse, as well as how to make a data breach complaint or claim.

For too long, some businesses have treated your data like it’s theirs to exploit. But the tide has turned – so seize control of your data back!

Read our free guide to data breach claims