When people talk about internet privacy, many people immediately think of identity theft. While there is always a small risk of identity theft while shopping online, this rarely happens thanks to internet safeguards. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any risks.

There are some apps for smartphones that give you nearby traffic information restaurant recommendations. Have you ever thought that this data could be stored? For example, iPads keep track of your whereabouts and store them in their data banks. Do you think that this constitutes a violation your privacy? Actually, if you own an iPad, you signed the contract permitting them to do so before you used the device, but you probably had no idea that you were doing so.

Has this ever happened to you? You are scanning your Facebook page as usual, and some ads pop up. Normally the ads are of some random brands that want you to get to know them better, but this time, to your surprise, the ads relate directly to a purchase that you just made. Do you think that this is just a big coincidence?

Another case to consider is that of search engines. They record all of your search information from which websites you visit, which pages you see, and even how long you stay on those pages.

Everything you do on the internet is recorded. This information could be sold to companies for advertising purposes, allowing them to span you mercilessly. This is annoying, but harmless. However, some people worry that the information could be given to the government to track people and monitor their daily activities in the name of national security.

Do you think it’s time to do something? What needs to be done?

Source:

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/The-Worrisome-Truth-About-Internet-Privacy-73840.html

At ShopCusCus, we like to think that we understand our customers so well because we’ve spent plenty of time in your shoes. We’ve shopped online many times, and we realize just how frustrating it can sometimes be. We have taken it upon ourselves to eliminate that element of frustration, so that’s why we’ve made ShopCusCus.com so inexpensive, quick, and convenient to use.

Along the way, we’ve become experts in our field, and we’d love to share our hard-earned knowledge with you! Here’s a story from one of our teammates, Adia, who shares the details of her search for a humidifier and what the process taught her about finding the right product for the right price in an online store.

Adia’s Story

The college that I attended was near the ocean, so the air was very humid. After finishing my schoolwork there, I returned home to live in a town far away from the water. A few days later, I began to feel the effects of the drier air; after a night’s sleep, my throat was itchy and dry. I knew that I needed a humidifier. At first I went looking for one in stores, but after seeing the high prices I decided to make my purchase online. I logged in to an online store, typed “humidifier”, and thousands of goods popped up. Which one would I pick?

Scan the Offerings

I had no idea about what kind of humidifier I wanted or how much I should be   paying for it, so I just browsed through the first few result pages to get a feel for the range of available options. Once this was done, I had a grip on my price range and the style of humidifier I was looking for.

Sort the Products by Important Characteristics

Since I was looking to purchase this humidifier purely for practical use, the product’s aesthetic appeal was not very important to me. Therefore, I choose to sort the humidifiers by price from low to high. (You can also organize listings by popularity, brand name, or a variety of other factors; it depends on which criterion is most important to you.) I found a lot of little humidifiers which are meant to be used in the car or at the office, but I needed a larger one to accommodate my room. I browsed on to the next few pages to find a device that would be strong enough for use in a bedroom.

Note to readers: Online stores can sell you some really cheap goods, but at the same time, quality may be suspect. Just keep your eyes open for signs of poor quality items (i.e. bad reviews, low ratings, or lack of product information)!

Read the Reviews

The product reviews are a very valuable source of information because they provide insights from other buyers about their experience with the products under real-life conditions. Due to the fact that these buyers have no connection to the seller and derive no profit from this activity, their reviews are generally excellent sources of unbiased product information.

I picked some affordably-priced humidifiers that I liked, and then began to read the reviews. They indicated that some of the humidifiers made a lot of noise; I need a quiet sleeping environment, so noisy humidifiers were a definite “no”. One was designed to look like a tree; I liked it very much, but after looking over the reviews, I decided against it. They said that it looked really good, but that the humid air condensed on the tree and caused the device to drip water all over the floor!

Pay Attention to the Ratings

One humidifier looked good and I wanted to buy it, but it had a low rating and there weren’t any reviews, so I finally gave up. I had no way of telling how well the product actually worked. Finally, though, after a few hours of shopping, I found a humidifier I liked! What a great feeling!

If you have any interesting stories about shopping online, or if you’d like to share any tips on how to find the products you want or things to watch out for, please share them in the Comments section!