We should be wary of companies that give away their “products” as part of their business models. Many social media and big tech companies give away what we think of as their “products.” What we use is not really their product. In fact, our attention is the product they are selling. Their actual customers are advertisers. If you’re not paying money for a product that seems valuable, you might be paying with your personal information.

Recently, huge amounts of people have started using Zoom online conferencing to stay connected. Most of us probably use the free version which makes me wonder who’s paying for it. Combine this with the recent security concerns that have come up and it makes me think that maybe Facebook, LinkedIn and other companies are Zoom’s customers. It’s hard to say for sure, but that’s part of the problem.

Do you know what personal information you are sharing? How much privacy are you willing to give up to stay connected for free online?