Revealed: How one in 10 businesses sell personal data to third parties

One in ten businesses globally profit from selling customer data to third parties, data by Atlas VPN team has shown.

The data, according to the team, are based on The Kaspersky Global Corporate IT Security Risks Survey, which features data from interviews with 5,266 IT business decision-makers from 31 countries globally.

Findings by the VPN team reveal that around half of the businesses worldwide collect client data. The survey further disclosed that a total of 48 per cent of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) and 52 per cent of enterprise representatives reported that their companies gather information about their clients, adding that one-fifth of these businesses (18% of SMBs and 21% of enterprises) also sell that data to third parties.

Speaking on how data can be protected online, Rachel Welch, Chief Operating Officer, Atlas VPN, said: “Nowadays, people face a challenge of balancing privacy and usability. They cannot control how securely companies store their information or in whose hands their data might end up. However, people can make sure that they limit the information they reveal online.

Using a VPN, reconfiguring your device’s privacy settings and reading Privacy Policy before you sign up for a new service are just some of the things I would recommend protecting your personal data better.”