How Concerned Should We Really Be About Our Data and Privacy Online?

What should we worry about most and how can we protect ourselves as the digital economy evolves?

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Jake Neher/WDET

Technology makes our lives a lot easier and faster. The phones that are constantly in our hands, for instance, are now portals to everything from social interaction to paper towel purchases.

But all that seemingly frivolous internet activity is actually a data exchange. And that data has real value. In fact, it has grown into its own economy — and consumers aren’t even fully aware of the ways that their data, their human experience, is being collected and traded as a commodity.

On Detroit Today, Stephen Henderson speaks with experts and listeners about the surveillance economy and how it is exploding largely without us knowing how it affects our lives.

Dr. Rumman Chowdhury is a data scientist and the global lead for responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence.

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries is a reporter on the investigative team at the New York Times, specializing in technology coverage. Her reporting has also focused on privacy, computer security and the law.

Kevin Hayes is chief information security officer with Merit.edu based in Southeast Michigan.

Click on the audio player above to hear those conversations.

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  • Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.