Wes Chaar: The Hidden Business Behind Your Personal Data

Every email receipt, loyalty card, online search, app permission, and free Wi-Fi connection can reveal more about you than you realize.

In this episode of Entrepreneur | Authorities, Joe Pardavila speaks with data science and AI expert Wes Chaar, author of Data Independence: Reclaiming Privacy in an Era of Evolving Tech, about how companies follow our digital breadcrumbs and turn personal information into profit.

Wes explains how a simple email address can help businesses connect your purchases, online behavior, location, interests, and spending habits into a detailed customer profile. He also reveals why airlines offer free Wi-Fi, how retailers use loyalty programs as data acquisition tools, and why two people may see different prices for the same hotel room or product.

The conversation also examines the growing power of artificial intelligence, the difference between personalization and manipulation, and the anxiety younger workers feel as AI transforms white-collar careers.Wes shares his proposal for giving individuals greater control over their personal information through what he calls the “data vote,” along with a new regulatory framework built around transparency, accountability, protection, equality, and respect.

Who should own your personal data? How much control should companies have over it? And should you receive a share of the money your information helps generate?

Listen to the full conversation to learn how the data economy works and what it may take to reclaim your digital independence.

What You'll Learn:
How companies connect small pieces of information to create a detailed customer profile
Why stores ask for an email address or phone number at checkout
How loyalty programs act as data collection systems
Why airlines may profit more from customer data than ticket sales
Why free services often generate value through user information
How AI relies on personal, behavioral, and creative data
Where personalization can cross into emotional manipulation
Why AI is causing anxiety among Gen Z and white-collar workers
How companies may use personal data to set different prices
Why government agencies can sometimes buy data without seeking a warrant



Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
00:59 – The Digital Breadcrumbs You Leave Every Day
02:00 – What Happens When You Give a Store Your Email
03:38 – How Companies Use Data Beyond Advertising
05:17 – The Privacy Trade-Off We Make for Convenience
06:42 – Why Free Platforms Want Your Data
07:30 – AI Runs on Your Personal Information
09:27 – The Idea of a Personal “Data Vote”
10:17 – When Personalization Becomes Manipulation
13:20 – How Companies Predict and Influence Emotion
15:19 – Why Gen Z Is Pushing Back Against AI
16:32 – AI’s Impact on White-Collar Jobs
20:04 – Which Industries Use Personal Data Most Aggressively?
20:33 – How Airlines Became Data Companies
22:14 – Loyalty Programs as Data Acquisition Tools
23:37 – The Real Reason Airlines Offer Free Wi-Fi
25:55 – Why Two People May See Different Prices
27:40 – Governments Buying Data Without Warrants
29:00 – A New Framework for Data Regulation
32:20 – Why Europe Leads the U.S. on Technology Rules
34:45 – Who Should Own Your Personal Data?
37:04 – Data Independence and Final Thoughtsin control or compensation for their data
What Wes Chaar means by a personal “data vote”