KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When you download an app, do you read the terms and conditions?
If you don’t, you may be giving companies permission to share your personal information.
People share their entire life stories on their phones, often with video or pictures. But if you wouldn't give personal information to a stranger on the street, make sure that you're not giving up that information online.
With 2018 wrapping up, many people will be sharing social media posts with the hashtag #Top9. The Top Nine app identifies a user's nine most "liked" photos from the past year and creates a collage of the photos to share on Instagram.
“I would probably say I do it each year,” Christine Hofmeister said.
When a user registers for the app, they give the company their name, email and Instagram username.
But many may not be paying attention to what they're giving the company permission to use.
In this case, Top Nine says on its website that it is "not in the business of selling your information.” But reading a little further into its privacy policy, the company says users give it permission to share their information with other companies. And it's not clear what those companies will do with the information.
“I’m not shocked, that is common now. But do I think it is ethical? No,” Hofmeister said.
“It is kind of an invasion of privacy, but it is the society we live in so I don’t know what you can do to stop it,” Tara McGuffin agreed.
So what can be done about these privacy concerns? The short answer: Take some time and read what you're agreeing to online.
Some, however, said they'll still probably skip reading the terms and conditions, accepting that it's a just a risk they will take.
“At a certain point you are accepting the fact that there is this risk, that they will take your information,” Hofmeister said.
