INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New research from Mine has revealed that 83 percent of an average person's data is held by companies they have only interacted with once
At the same time though, almost a third (32%) of the data in a person's digital footprint didn't even require users to open an account to
store their information.Mine is a new startup that aims to give people back ownership of their personal data online and the company launched
in Europe back in January.The company also discovered that most people's data is held by 350 companies, though the top five percent of its
users with the largest digital footprints discovered that an average of 2,834 companies had access to their data
This number then grows for all users by an average of eight new companies per month.Of Mime's users, 90 percent were shocked by the size
of their digital footprint as many guessed it would be just half the size
Surprisingly, just 17 percent of an average person's digital footprint contains digital services which they use frequently with the top
five being Microsoft, YouTube, Netflix, PayPal and Spotify.Mine helps people take their data back from online services by automating a right
to be forgotten request which companies have to comply with in 30 days under GDPR
Since its launch, the company has discovered that the businesses receiving the most requests were those in the technology, shopping and
travel sectors.According to Mine, the companies with the fastest response times are Zoom, Uniqlo, Pocket, ManpowerGroup and Trainline
However, technology companies, which receive the most right to be forgotten requests, seem to be the least responsive with only five percent
of data erasure requests completed so far.Research conducted by Mine also found that many people have lost faith in data privacy with 92
percent of those surveyed saying they feel uncomfortable about the number of companies that collect their data
Worryingly, 88 percent of respondents believe that giving up one's privacy is just the cost for using the internet.Co-founder and CEO of
Mine, Gal Ringel explained that consumers need to be able to take back their data from companies once their relationship has ended,
data privacy we need to shift our mindsets to strive for data ownership
rather be empowered to share our data with companies when needed but also to be able to take it back when our exchange with that company has
