Since the dawn of spam and server hacks, there has been trepidation on the part of the consumer in sharing their personal data with the companies they interact with, and with good reason. But, there is a way for consumers to leverage their data to his or her advantage. Many companies today are mining the data they capture about their customers, such as spending habits and purchase preferences - and chances are, whether they realize it or not, they are benefiting from it. Recent articles site that Fiat uses their customer data to find out how to target new customers and provide better service to the ones it already has. Wal-Mart uses purchasing habit data to deliver the right item to the right customer. American Express suggests products to its customers based on analysis of the customer’s monthly expenditures, and often provides deals on those items. This session will discuss how the consumer should re-evaluate the companies they interact with and how their data can benefit them.