People Are The Product
from the buying-and-selling-your-info dept
Just a random reminder for people who didn't know that on most sites supported by advertising, you are the real product. That's why when all of these companies are going out of business, the biggest thing to get sold is the customer list. I realize that most people around here probably already know this, but it's a good reminder. What I'm most surprised at is how angry people get about it. It seems pretty obvious that the customer list is an asset of the company - and that's why people should be careful about who they give their personal info to. However, the second the company tries to do anything with that info, people flip out. Why would they have asked for that info in the first place, if they didn't plan to make money off of it?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
