Understanding the Basics of Data Privacy

Founder Series : Post 1

Happy day!  

I am Tom Law, Founder and CEO of Oak AI. This is Post 1 in our Founder Series on the current state of the internet and what you can do to live the life you want online. 

And – this article was hand-crafted by me just for you. No Generative Artificial intelligence, just I. 

(Five minute read) 

In this article, we’ll discuss a few basic terms used to define personal data use on the internet – Personally Identifiable Information and Anonymized Data.  

If you’ve been on the internet for a while, these may seem like basic, but we’re starting with fundamentals so that our readers have some shared language and definitions before we get into the deeper concepts! 

What Data Are Companies Collecting? 

You probably already know this, but just about everything you do nowadays is tracked - by your internet company and phone service provider, by the company that made your phone or the software that runs on it, by the websites and services you use, and even by companies you’ve never heard of or interacted with. 

Most Americans also use apps and services on their phones that track all activity they do, not just online web browsing– not just where you are, but what you are doing, what you say, who might be around you, what your facial expression or tone of voice is, and even when you wake up and go to bed. 

So this means that almost nothing is “private” anymore by the common definition of not being observed. The reality is that most people are being watched and recorded all the time. So when we talk about “data privacy”, what does that even mean? 

Why Your Data Matters 

Your data is valuable – people love to know what other people are doing, what they like, and how to influence them.  

Companies use this information about how you act every day to figure out what products and services you may want from them or other businesses, how much to charge, when and how to advertise to you, how to influence your behavior, and much more. 

Understanding Personal Data 

So what is “personal data”, anyways?  

Personally Identifiable Information is defined as anything that can be used to know who you are or guess who you are based on that information. 
 
This could be an email address, your account login information, home address, name, phone number, or other information that can be used to tell who you are or can be combined with other information to infer who you are. 

Anonymized Data is when your Personally Identifiable Information has been removed from other data, such as aggregated statistics. 

An example of Personally Identifiable information a company may collect, share, or sell is lists of customers with specific information about those customers included in the list.  

“John Smith lives in Portland, Maine” would be Personally Identifiable Information. 

A company collecting, sharing or selling general information about the number of customers that they have in Portland, Maine without ever mentioning John Smith specifically would be an example of anonymized data. 

One way that companies commonly separate personally identifiable data is they allow their business partners or business customers (like a company that buys ads from them) to specify what demographics they want ads to go to.  

The advertiser then handles getting an ad to John Smith without the ad purchaser getting any specific information about John Smith. 

As things have progressed, though, many companies collect and share a lot of information including that personally identifiable information. 

And – even if a company doesn’t intend to share your personally identifiable information, it may get hacked or leaked anyways. 

Is this a problem?  

Most consumers these days think so, but the line between informing a potential customer about a good or service they may want or need and introducing content and ideas in overly manipulative ways is blurry.  

Are targeted ads for convenient restaurants appropriate if an advertiser knows when you are likely to be hungry or thirsty, or is that overly manipulative? It really depends on your perspective. 

This is where Oak comes in – we want to help you understand what is happening online, what you should be aware of, and what a few good options might be – all according to your own personal values and what you think is important to know.  

We want you to have enough information to gauge if you think companies are acting in your best interest so you can make better-informed everyday decisions. 
 

A Better Way 

At Oak, we’ve taken additional steps to safeguard our user’s personal information.  

We set up the Oak Platform from the get-go so that you are the only one that can choose to link your opinions, personal vibeCheck model, or other account information with your profile and personally identifiable information. 

Everything on the Oak Platform is anonymized unless you explicitly choose to share it with others. 

This means that even Oak doesn’t have the ability to share your personal information, which is where a lot of companies make their money. 

Doing it right isn’t always easy, but we know it’s the right thing to do! 

Call To Action 

Whether this is new to you or you’re already familiar with these concepts and have opinions on when and how you think it is OK to share information associated with you personally, please chime in in the comments below.  

We would love to hear what you think about how companies treat your personal data, and how you feel about Oak’s approach to managing personally identifiable information! 
 

Next Up: Sensitive Information