July 7, 2010 9:49AM # Busting the Myth that Web Sites ‘Sell Your Data’ By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE On TLF, Berin Szoka comes up just shy of ranting, but it’s a good [rant against the myth that Web sites like Facebook sell or give your data](http://techliberation.com/2010/07/06/privacy-mythbusters-no-facebook-doesnt-give-advertisers-your-data/) to advertisers. In targeted online advertising, the business model is generally to sell advertisers access to people based on their demographics. It is not to sell individuals’ personal and contact info. Doing the latter would undercut the advertising business model and the profitability of the web sites carrying the advertising. I did some myth-busting of my own last year when the [*Wall Street Journal* published erroneous information](http://techliberation.com/2009/04/28/schneier-on-realagecom-factually-incorrect/) about a health-interest site called RealAge​.com, which does not give or sell visitors’ data to drug companies. Understanding how technologies and business models work is job one for crafting good public policies, but [as I noted yesterday](https://www.cato.org/2010/07/06/nor-does-tech-get-d-c/)… ##### Related Tags [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).