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Use the internet like you’re part of Gen Z. That means both learning TikTok dances and valuing customization and personalization over a false sense of privacy.
This week on Business Casual, we’re talking about data—how our data is gathered online, where it gets bought and sold, and why we might be entitled to some of the money it makes Big Tech. The conversation started with a teardown of former 2020 hopeful Andrew Yang’s proposed data dividend project.
On today’s episode, we’re asking some important follow-up questions: Does the next generation of tech users even care about their data, where it’s used, and whether they get paid for it?
The short answer is no—because 1) the activist generation has larger concerns than getting a dividend from Big Tech and 2) “People tend to not care about data privacy until they are personally affected.” That’s according to our guest today, Tiffany Zhong, the cofounder and CEO of Zebra IQ and the young entrepreneur once dubbed the Mary Meeker of Gen Z.

Zhong says the ways Gen Z grew up—in a mobile-first world—shapes their approach to content consumption, communication, and privacy.

Plus, they’re more concerned with things like dismantling systems of racial oppression than they are taking Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos to task.


Many in Gen Z think this way: The value of the content they get from Big Tech and social platforms is greater than the value of their data—some in Gen Z feel that they’re getting the good end of the bargain. But does that give Big Tech free reign over their data?
This is a nuanced conversation about young people and their relationships with data privacy. Check it out now.