HARI SREENIVASAN:

Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission issued a report that contained consumer protection recommendations concerning what's referred to as "big data" – the companies that collect and sell billions of bits of information about all aspects of our online lives. Information that includes purchases, income, political affiliations – even religion. As FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez put it:

"It's time to bring transparency and accountability to bear on this industry on behalf of consumers, many of whom are unaware that data brokers even exist."

For some insight, we turn to Amy Schatz who covers tech policy issues for Re/code.

So, what were the things that this report uncovered that might surprise consumers?