These free applications can help you save money but they also collect your personal data and sell it to third-party companies to make a profit.
The money-saving experts at the consumer website NerdWallet say browser extensions are an easy way to save money when you’re shopping online. But there’s also a tradeoff of your personal information.
When you’re looking for the perfect gift through your phone, tablet, or computer, start the same way you would if you were shopping in person, make a list.
“You want to know exactly what you want to buy. And do some research on those products so you even know specifically what color, what brand, everything about it,” says Kimberly Palmer, a personal finance expert at NerdWallet.
She says once you have your list, start tracking the prices of those items.
“You don't have to do it manually. There are a lot of browser extensions that help you,” says Palmer.
NerdWallet recommends Honey, Rakuten Cash Back Button, Camel Camel Camel, Coupon Cabin Sidekick, and Capital One Shopping.
“And that way you can see when the price dips, and that's when you want to make your purchase,” says Palmer.
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If you want to try this, start by going to the browser extension’s website. Create an account, and download the browser extension. You’ll see it appear next to the search bar.
When you go to a store’s website, click on the product you’re interested in. Then click on the browser extension, and click on the option to track the product you’re viewing. You’ll get a notification if the price changes.
You can also use browser extensions to find coupons. But, there is something you should know.
“At the end of the day all of these free bolt-on applications are really just collecting your personal data and selling it to a third-party agency in order to profit off it,” says cyber security expert Matt Barnett.
Before installing a browser extension, read the terms and conditions and privacy policies.
“If you read the terms of service that you're agreeing to when you install these extensions, you'll see just what they're doing with that data,” says Barnett.
NBC Responds checked the privacy policies stated on each of the browser extension websites we mentioned.
Most of them collect your basic information such as your, username, password, your name, mailing address, and email address.
They’re often used for marketing purposes.
Camel Camel Camel seems to collect the least information, stating: “we try to collect as little personal data from our users as possible, but we do typically require your email address in order to deliver price alerts and other site-related messages.”
Before you decide to use a browser extension, Barnett says you should keep the risk versus reward in mind.
“With the people that are collecting this data is we don't know how they're securing it,” says Barnett. “So if it's compromised or if that company becomes compromised, your data could be stolen and sold to other people. It could be weaponized against you via phishing scams or email or social via phishing scams, or via text message or phone calls.”
You can find the privacy policies for the browser extensions in the story here:
NBC Philadelphia contributed to this report.
