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about us as well.

These are the types of companies

that a potential employer

Would go to to try and run a

background check on somebody

Before they hired them.

They're able to connect the fact

That you went to site a,

And then later to site b,

And then eventually to site c,

And create this detailed history

Of what sites you visit online.

[man] they don't put your name

in the cookie.

They put a unique

serial number in the cookie

That can then be linked

to your name in their database.

I don't know if you've

ever seen the picture

Of the ad network ecosystem

That shows all the parties

in the ad network ecosystem.

It's a bit overwhelming.

The information is valuable

to different people for

different reasons.

What if you buy

a lot of alcohol?

You know, they might want

to raise your premiums

Because they think you're

at risk for alcoholism

or something like that.

The company might use it

in a way that actually

harms you.

[narrator]

for example, in 2008,

Thousands of people suddenly

had their credit limits reduced,

Seemingly for no reason.

While on vacation, one wealthy

business owner from atlanta

Saw his limit plummet

from $10,800

To just $3,800,

ruining his vacation.

The letter he received

said this:

"other customers who

have used their card

At establishments

where you recently shopped

Have a poor repayment history

with american express."

This means companies

like wal-mart.

And in minneapolis,

a father came into a target

Outraged that they were sending

his teenaged daughter

pregnancy coupons,

Coupons that were

addressed to her.

The man thought that target

was trying to encourage

his daughter to get pregnant.

As it turned out, thanks

to her shopping habits,

Target knew that this

high-schooler was pregnant

before her own father did.

The father later apologized.

And in the netherlands,

data was being used to harm

customers in a whole new way.

Now, while you're

driving and using a gps,

That gps is sending back

signals to tell how fast

you're moving.

It's really useful

for helping us avoid traffic.

But that got a little company

called tomtom wondering

Who else might be interested

in knowing the speed of traffic.

And so in the netherlands,

the data that people

were willingly trading

To find a faster way home was

being sold to the authorities

To give those

same drivers tickets.

Is the reason we don't have any

baseline consumer privacy law

Because of the fbi? No.

That is largely due to

lobbying by companies

That have built extremely

lucrative businesses

Around these business activities

And don't want to do

anything to disrupt that.

Under facebook's terms

and conditions,

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