Your personal data is for sale

DAY after day, click after click, buy after buy, swipe after swipe, thumbs up or thumbs down, our virtual actions leave our digital footprint that will be there throughout our lives (and even after that). Once data is produced, it rarely fades away - like a permanent marker that you can't get off the wall, no matter how much bleach you use. Our personal data is constantly collected, monetised, and traded in this new economy. The digitisation of our lives has made an abundance of personal data publicly available, which could be easily exploited.

In fact, our latest research of some 2,400 consumers across Asia-Pacific reveals that 55 per cent of consumers we surveyed strongly feel that their data is being sold to third parties (advertisers, insurance companies, telecom operators, retail stores, among others). Consider these examples:

It is no wonder that consumers (58 per cent) in the region have a growing concern over their lack of control in how their data is mined. The data footprint that we leave today is magnifying, exponentially, in a connected world where everything from wearables to home appliances, smartphones, and cars can now be synced. In fact, three to five billion new consumers, who have never purchased, uploaded, invented or sold anything are about to come online and provide a mega-surge to the global economy. As a result, data-related issues will only get more complicated. Concerns continue to grow, and the question becomes: where is the tipping point?