- What am I agreeing to?
- Creating an account = signing a contract. Each time you accept or agree to “terms of service” (ToS), you sign a contract between you/the organization and the service.
- What information am I sharing?
- Each time you accept or agree to a “privacy policy,” you provide access to information/data. Who has access to the service? How is the data managed and deleted when the service is no longer used?
- There is no free lunch!
- Even if the technology tool or service says it’s “free,” there is still a hidden cost… the price is data you agree to share when you accept the ToS and privacy policy.
- Wait… I need to upgrade to do that?
- Free is the hook to get you to spend. Whether it’s a limited “taste” or a “free trial” to get you started, you must pay for the features you want, remove the ads, or keep using the product.
- They aren’t asking for much.
- Whether it’s data or money, even a little bit adds up. Dollars add up for each account. Data shared is data that can be exposed or used in unintended ways.
- Money doesn’t grow on trees.
- We all have budgets and need to work within them.
- How many tools are enough?
- There are a lot of apps, services, and tools out there that do similar things. How do we choose which ONE to use, understand, and support?
- Wait… how does that work?
- How many tools can someone use and still remember how they all work from one situation to the next? Management, support, consistency of use, and experience grow as we use more and more apps/services.
- I forgot I have that account.
- How many accounts do you have for service that you forgot you even had? What information did you share with them, and how long have they held on to it?
- It’s not the first domino to fall… the long game.
- Even data that may seem minor or insignificant if sold or part of a breach can be combined with other pieces to create a complete picture. This can happen immediately or after years of collecting data from various sources.
