Emily Clarke

3 Things Companies Use My Data For

If you've ever signed up for a company's email newsletter or provided your phone number when checking out at a department store, you've provided a business with data. There's nothing inherently wrong with doing this, and companies often have good reasons for wanting your data.

If you've ever wondered what companies do with customer data they collect, below are three common uses:

1. Internal Research

One of the most common ways companies use your data is for internal research. Your data may get lumped in with other customer data from a specific geographical location or age group. In most cases, there's no identifying information connected to your data. Instead, the personal information is stripped from the data, allowing it to simply function as statistical data points.

Your purchase decisions and buying habits may be analyzed along with other people in the same category to help the company learn and understand what people like you like and want. This helps companies create new products and services or change policies based on customer behaviors.

2. Outbound Marketing

Your data may also be used for outbound marketing purposes like emails advertising new services. The reason companies want this data is because it can be very useful in personalizing a marketing campaign.

For example, if you use a cellphone, your data habits may get run through data usage metrics software by your carrier. The data usage metrics software will tell the carrier how often you use data and how much data you use. The carrier can then analyze your usage along with others to create new data plans to advertise to you directly.

3. Monetization

While this practice is frowned upon, some companies sell customer information for profit. You should be made aware if this is a possibility when you agree to a company's privacy policy on its website. If you provide personal data in person, such as when checking out at a store, you should be provided with a handout that explains how data is used and whether a company sells data to third parties.

Author Resource:-

Emily Clarke writes about the best data observability tools and data analysis softwares. You can find her thoughts at data visibility blog.