The hidden price of online discounts: Your personal data

SHAH ALAM – The next time consumers receive a discount voucher, cashback reward or flash sale promotion, cybersecurity experts suggest asking a simple question: what is being exchanged in return?

While many consumers assume they are paying only with money when shopping online, experts said personal data has increasingly become a form of currency in the digital economy.

Universiti Sains Malaysia Cybersecurity Research Centre director Professor Dr Selvakumar Manickam said exchanging personal information for benefits is not a new phenomenon.

“Many people think trading personal data for discounts is a new issue, but it has existed for decades,” he said when contacted.

Consumers have long shared personal details when signing up for membership programmes, loyalty cards and promotional campaigns.

However, Selvakumar said technology has dramatically expanded the scale of data collection.

“Today, consumers generate data whenever they browse products, search online, click on advertisements, make purchases or use a shopping app.

“As a result, companies can collect far more information than many people realise,” he said.

He added that beyond names, phone numbers and email addresses, apps may collect browsing behaviour, purchase history, location information and usage patterns.

He said this information can be combined to create detailed consumer profiles that reveal spending habits, interests and lifestyle preferences.

“Personal data has become a valuable business asset that helps support targeted advertising, loyalty programmes and promotional offers,” he said.

While data collection can be justified for legitimate purposes such as processing payments, preventing fraud and improving services, Selvakumar warned that risks increase when organisations collect excessive information or share it widely with third parties.

“What starts as targeted advertising can escalate into a cybersecurity issue if personal data is breached.

“Once leaked, data can be traded on the dark web and reused for identity theft, phishing, financial fraud and other cybercrime,” he added.

Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology professor Dr Ainuddin Wahid Abdul Wahab said many consumers underestimated the true value of the information they share.

He said the value of that data to advertisers and third-party brokers far exceeded the discount consumers received.

He likened the practice to receiving a discounted meal in exchange for allowing strangers to monitor daily activities.

“Often, the trade is deeply unequal. Imagine paying RM2 for a meal, only to sign a contract that lets the restaurant follow us everywhere and sell our daily routine to strangers,” he said.