TechKnow Episode 9: Social media and data privacy

When signing up for social media or an online account of any kind, have you ever considered how much personal data you’re giving away?

According to UK ITS Director of Privacy, Governance, Risk, and Compliance Michael P. Sheron, “You should always be thinking, what am I giving away, and what do I get in return?”

On episode 9 of TechKnow, Sheron discusses social media data collection, data privacy and how companies use our data. Listen to episode 9 here.

Recently, some health apps have advertised anonymous versions of their apps. But before signing up for an app that makes these claims, start by looking at their user agreement.

“You have to understand what they mean by anonymous — they still have to have some manner of tracking you,” Sheron said. “They may be scrubbing usernames or something like that from the data, or aggregating it, so that it's not as recognizable, but they still have to have some way of tracking you.”

Sheron also recommends being mindful of the data you share when interacting with AI. Read more about why you should never share your personal information chatbots.

Sign up for UK ITS news, alerts and tech tips here. You can also follow UK ITS on social media and listen to all episodes of our new podcast TechKnow here.