system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: A lot of outrage comes from “companies stealing our data”, what is an actual harmful outcome to me from a company taking my data?
gpt
Well, they can target their advertising very specifically, manipulating your behaviour by knowing how to subconsciously alter your spending habits. The data can be used to alter things like your chances of being approved for a loan, or how much your insurance will cost. They might reveal information you'd rather keep secret, for example gay people have been outed because their social media began sending adverts and messages related to that based off of their search history... there can be a lot of consequences.