Sadly, junk email and text messages are now parts of everyday life. In a recent email received from a reader they asked, “I’m wondering why I keep getting so much junk mail when I don’t do much on the computer at all – just email a few friends and order a few things. I don’t complete warranties or fill our surveys except from the doctor’s office. Any suggestions?”
Much of the junk is not criminal activity but is a part of aggressive marketing from our internet providers and online search engines. Companies like Verizon, Consolidated, Comcast, and Spectrum share information with their affiliates. Google, Twitter, and Facebook are notorious for sharing data with advertisers and even selling contact information. Free services have to make money somewhere and it’s not by charging us fees. I often comment, “If you are accessing the service free of charge, you are not the consumer; you are the product.”
