How Online Quizzes Collect and Manage Users' Data
Online data collection has been a hot topic in recent weeks, especially after news broke that millions of users' Facebook information was allegedly harvested by a company and used to create targets for political ads. In turn, people threatened to #DeleteFacebook, although data sharing isn't just limited to the OG social media platform. Google also has all of its users' info, and now, it turns out, so do plenty of those online quizzes that we all love so much.
According to a new report from Mic, some online quiz websites might be selling your answers to other companies, which would allow them to gain insight into your preferences (and thus target you with certain ads). Dr. Max Kilger, the director of analytics at University of Texas at San Antonio, explained further: "Any survey asking you anything, from, ‘What would you do in a certain situation?’ to your favorite color, is gleaning information about you that is useful to algorithms. Any quiz you take, on or off of Facebook, has a chance that the site will resell it or combine it with some existing data on you."
As Mic points out, this is exactly what Cambridge Analytica (the company involved in the Facebook data sharing scandal) did. Through the existence of an online quiz called "thisismydigitallife," the company was able to snag information from everyone who took the quiz (a whopping 270,000 people) and all of their friends.
If your heart is racing a bit because you spent all of Sunday afternoon finding out who your inner Disney princess is, take a deep breath. There are some ways to figure out which quizzes might be more apt to take your data. Pam Dixon, executive director of World Privacy Forum, told Mic that the simplest way to accomplish this is by looking at the website's privacy policy. "Especially when it says phrases like, ‘based on your responses we’ll partner with affiliates to bring you offers that are of interest to you,'" she added. It's worth noting that BuzzFeed, one of the most popular makers of online quizzes, told Mic that they do not sell their quiz data to clients. (Phew, now I can go back to finding out what drink at Starbucks I should order next.)
Despite the fact that data sharing has been getting a lot of buzz recently, the "dark" side of online quizzes is actually nothing new. A 2014 article in The Wall Street Journal detailed how online personality quizzes can be a "goldmine" for advertising companies, and some quizzes are even powered by those companies themselves. Jacob Wright, head of U.K.-based online ad company VisualDNA, told The WSJ: "We collect information about demographics, intent, interests, and personality. These can predict what people might be interested in buying or hearing about." In 2015, Comparitech published an article alleging that the previously popular "Facebook cloud word" online quiz provided a third party company with a lot of info from users, including your name, entire friend list, and everything you've ever liked. (Vonvon, the brand behind the cloud quiz, later responded, saying that they did not sell users' data to other companies.)
All of the discussion surrounding data sharing can be somewhat overwhelming, so it's important to take some time to learn the facts and educate yourself about what's really going on. And, like Dixon said, when in doubt, read the privacy policy — especially before you hit "agree."
Related: It’s Not Just Facebook — Google Has Your Info, Too
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