What data companies collect and what they do with it is a Pandora's box people don't want to open, or read.
"They write the information in the terms of use but we don't read those," said Safa Ghnaim, Data Detox Kit Lead at Tactical Tech.
And if we did, UND professor Naima Kaabouch says those terms aren't to protect the user.
"They say ' we care about your privacy and all that. It's more they care about themselves, companies and not to be sued by people," she said.
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And it's not just a single company, data brokers collect data from all kinds of apps and web browsers to create and sell a profile to advertisers.
"The question was always, what can I do, what now?," said Ghnaim.
You can start deleting old apps or checking significant locations on your phone. You can check the places you've been and even how to delete the data.
But they don't make this easy. The settings are often hidden in profiles and system preferences.
According to Kaabouch, "Using the Internet is a jungle and we need to be very careful what we put out there."
Fortunately it's a jungle you can tame by taking a few minutes to click and scroll through your privacy settings.
