Many people are now opting to provide technology companies with their personal data in exchange for access to software. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Nowadays, most people are willing to share their personal

data

with technology

companies

in order to use their software. Even though

such

behaviour has its advantages like reduced cost of purchase for

users

and low legal complications for the organizations, I believe the disadvantages like the risk of fraud and invasion of privacy outweigh its benefits. One advantage of voluntary sharing of personal

data

by

users

to technology service providers is that it ensures

users

enjoy a reduced price for purchasing the product. Often, these

companies

provide their customers with huge discounts on their service fees only if the

users

decide to share their personal information with them.

This

, sometimes brings down the cost,

as a result

,

users

can use the software, even for free. Another advantage of

such

a

user

scenario is that it allows

companies

to skip the legal complications of getting

this

personal information. Frequently, corporations get into compliance battles with regulatory authorities to defend the acquisition of customer's personal

data

.

For example

, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, was sued by many

users

and the US government for its unethical ways of acquiring

user

data

.

However

,

this

kind of transaction can

also

result in an increase in cyber fraud. More often than not, the personal

data

shared by consumers have critical

data

like bank accounts and identification numbers. Going forward, if these organisations' servers and databases are hacked,

then

all

this

private information may fall into the wrong hands, thereby increasing the chances of

internet

crimes.

Secondly

, customers do not even read terms and agreements properly

while

signing up for

such

an agreement,

this

allows tech

companies

to track

user

data

and their online journeys across multiple platforms, resulting in invasion of privacy.

For example

, websites asking for permissions related to

internet

browser cookies have a tendency to track

user

journeys across the

internet

, right from the moment these

users

agreed to the conditions.

For

this

reason, I believe the disadvantages outweigh its advantages. In conclusion,

although

voluntary opt-in by

users

to share their personal with tech

companies

reduces consumer purchase costs and corporations' legal hurdles, I believe the risk of

internet

crimes and tracking of

user

footprint throughout the

internet

outweighs its positives.