Ever wonder how you can search for something and then see ads related to that search that seem to be speaking directly to you?  The simplified answer: There is no such thing as free – even on the Internet.

Have you ever stopped to think who owns the Internet? We rely on it for business, entertainment and education. As a whole, it’s not really owned by anyone. But within it, there are many owners. Take Google. Google provides an assortment of widely used “free” services – email, storage, search engine, calendar, social networking and so on. Yet it’s a large, very profitable company because of those advertisements.

Or consider Facebook. It’s a free social networking platform that allows users to connect with friends and family. Users post personal information, videos, and photos – all of which are owned and can be used by Facebook, another profitable company.

Not Really Free
I have two anti-virus programs running on my home computer to combat the constant activity by my four children and sometimes it’s still not enough. Infection of malware is usually just a matter of time. It’s not because they are doing any inappropriate activities. It’s just the new state of affairs on the Internet. A free music or ringtone download. A free game. A free sheet of music. A free photo editing program.

They all sound good and why pay when you can get it for free, right? Well, unfortunately, they are not really free. You may not be offering any money in this transaction. In some cases, the features or your access are just limited. However, in most cases, you are offering up access to your personal information and data on your personal behaviors on the Internet. You get something for free and in return, you get tracked.

It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s the reality of Big Data and how organizations use the Internet to market and make money. You probably have heard the saying, if you are not paying, you probably are the one being bought. It’s becoming increasingly true on the Internet. It’s important to read the terms and every box before clicking “yes,” “continue” or “OK.”

Protecting Your Business
This new norm among users of the Internet affects organizations. It is essential that organizations have a corporate policy for downloading items and using services on the Internet. Organizations should not allow any of their corporate information to be on the Internet, unless it is stored in approved platforms.

Dropbox has become widely used in business. The free version is tempting, but to ensure security and control over the information, organizations should pay for the business version of Dropbox. It will be money well spent.

The policy is not enough. There still will be virus attacks and potential breaches. So, it’s important that organizations employ a series of security measures to ensure their data, equipment and software will not be compromised. It can happen so easily without the proper protection. It happens every day and we’ve see it in the news headlines.

Not Changing
Remember when we talked about natives and immigrants? Immigrants rarely understand what’s happening and how they can be tracked without ever entering a piece of personal information.

Natives, on the other hand, grew up with the Internet and expect items on the Internet to be free. They don’t see value in paying and that’s driving the back end activity with businesses offering items for free in exchange for the ability to track. In many cases, the same people complaining about being tracked are the ones side stepping the system to get something for free.

I may be seen more as a native because of my work as a technology specialist over the past few decades, but I’d rather pay the 99 cents or $1.99. I know I am gaining more than I am losing on that deal.