An evaluation of the top 100 e-commerce sites in the U.S., from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday examined how consumer data was collected, shared and sold during the peak 2022 holiday shopping season. The study, conducted by Lokker, revealed a significant data privacy risk for consumers, particularly as Data Privacy Week kicks off.

Adobe Analytics reported that U.S. consumers spent just over $35 billion online during the five-day period beginning on Thanksgiving and continuing through Cyber Monday. In a separate analysis, Lokker, found that social media companies and data brokers also went on a shopping spree during this same time period, collecting consumers’ personal data.