{"id":79889,"date":"2026-03-23T01:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T05:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=79889"},"modified":"2026-03-23T01:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T05:02:09","slug":"eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight &#8220;free&#8221; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span dir=\"auto\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-79890\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet-250x141.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">We live in the age of free things. Free social media, free email, free search engines, free maps, free news, free artificial intelligence. Capitalism, that system we so often accuse of greed, seems to have become generous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">But there&#8217;s a small, uncomfortable detail: nothing in this world is self-generating. As\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.izquierdadiario.es\/A-207-anos-de-su-nacimiento-Karl-Marx-el-organizador-de-la-lucha-por-el-comunismo\"><span dir=\"auto\">Karl Marx<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0reminded us , all value requires socially invested labor, energy, and time. No server operates out of altruism. No algorithm works out of social vocation. No package is delivered out of poetic inspiration. If we don&#8217;t pay for something with money, we&#8217;re paying for it in another way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The question is not whether we pay, the question is with what.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Here are eight things we think are free.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">1. Social networks: the price of attention<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Posting photos, commenting, sharing memes, following political debates. It all seems free. However, platforms like Meta Platforms don&#8217;t thrive on youthful enthusiasm, but on targeted advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Sociologist\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https:\/\/revistas.usc.gal\/index.php\/agora\/article\/view\/8339\/11724&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi1_umenIGTAxVZ_7sIHUCcGbsQFnoECHYQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw2I5Rs-Gfky3hEMprMxBPo3\"><span dir=\"auto\">Shoshana Zuboff<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0has explained how surveillance capitalism turns our behavior into economic raw material. We don&#8217;t pay with a card: we pay with time, data, behavior, and emotional patterns. Every &#8220;like&#8221; is information. Every pause in front of a video is a commercial signal. Our leisure time is an exploitable resource.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">And the most interesting thing is that we don&#8217;t feel like we&#8217;re paying. We feel like we&#8217;re being entertained. That we&#8217;re being given a free &#8220;pleasure&#8221; (any comparison with\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Un_mundo_feliz\"><em><span dir=\"auto\">Brave New World<\/span><\/em><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0, the book by\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aldous_Huxley\"><span dir=\"auto\">Aldous Huxley<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0, is purely coincidental).<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">2. The all-knowing search engine<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Alphabet Inc. doesn&#8217;t charge us to search. On the contrary, it makes our lives easier. It finds us restaurants, doctors, flights, and answers to existential questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">But every search reveals intention, and intention is gold. The sociologist\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/reis.cis.es\/index.php\/reis\/article\/view\/1447\"><span dir=\"auto\">Pierre Bourdieu<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0taught us that even our seemingly free choices are structured by fields and capital. Here, our searches feed an economic field where information about wants and needs has monetary value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Although we don&#8217;t pay for the answer, we pay when we ask the question.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">3. Free shipping (because someone else is paying for it)<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">E-commerce has perfected the art of &#8220;free shipping.&#8221; However, transportation involves fuel, wages, infrastructure, and logistics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">As\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/jacobinlat.com\/author\/david-harvey\/\"><span dir=\"auto\">David Harvey<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0emphasized , capitalism constantly reorganizes costs to maintain accumulation. Costs don&#8217;t disappear. They are integrated into the price, offset by volume, or sustained by meticulously controlled working conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Free access is a strategic redistribution of costs, not their evaporation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">4. Entertainment applications<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Unlimited series, endless videos, instant music. Sometimes we pay a subscription; other times, not even that. The\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Freemium\"><em><span dir=\"auto\">freemium<\/span><\/em><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0model offers us barrier-free access.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The philosopher\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fpa.es\/es\/premios-princesa-de-asturias\/premiados\/2025-byung-chul-han\/\"><span dir=\"auto\">Byung-Chul Han<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0has described how contemporary society transforms seduction into a form of control. The more time we spend indoors, the more data we generate, the more refined the profiling, the more profitable our presence becomes. We are integrated through comfort.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">5. Digital News<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Many media outlets offer free access to their content. Is that informational philanthropy? Not exactly. Funding comes from advertising, clicks, and traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Sociologist\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.philosophica.info\/voces\/habermas\/Habermas.html\"><span dir=\"auto\">J\u00fcrgen Habermas<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0warned that the public sphere depends on the material conditions of communication. When attention becomes a commodity, information also enters into market logic. The reader doesn&#8217;t pay with money, they pay with attention. And attention is monetizable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">6. Public WiFi<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Airports, cafes, hotels: free Wi-Fi. Just accept the terms and conditions, which we rarely read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The philosopher\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/filco.es\/foucault-10-claves\/\"><span dir=\"auto\">Michel Foucault<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0showed how modern power operates through seemingly neutral mechanisms that shape behavior. \u201cFree\u201d access is also a mechanism: in exchange, we hand over browsing, location, and behavioral data. The cost lies in this silent surrender.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">7. Conversational artificial intelligence<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">AI platforms allow for all kinds of inquiries: resolving doubts, writing texts, generating ideas. The user feels like they have access to an advanced tool without paying.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The sociologist\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/filco.es\/antonio-gramsci-10-claves\/\"><span dir=\"auto\">Antonio Gramsci<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0spoke of hegemony as a form of cultural leadership that becomes normalized. Free AI can be understood in this way: it appears to be a service, but each interaction strengthens corporate infrastructures, business models, and the accumulation of cognitive capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The fact that it&#8217;s free here is a result of a long-term investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">8. The most sophisticated gift: the feeling that we owe nothing<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Perhaps the most interesting point is that free access not only redistributes costs: it transforms the experience of exchange.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The philosopher\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ctxt.es\/es\/20181031\/Firmas\/22618\/Louis-Althusser-marxismo-Roger-Garaudy-posmarxismo-eduardo-sanchez-iglesias.htm\"><span dir=\"auto\">Louis Althusser<\/span><\/a><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0explained that ideology doesn&#8217;t operate solely through discourse, but also through everyday practices that structure our perception. When we don&#8217;t pay money, we don&#8217;t feel loss. When we don&#8217;t feel loss, we don&#8217;t perceive conflict. When we don&#8217;t perceive conflict, the system appears neutral.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Being free doesn&#8217;t eliminate exchange, which continues to happen without us being aware of it. And that has profound social consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span dir=\"auto\">The paradox of generosity<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Digital capitalism doesn&#8217;t work by crudely hiding information, but by reshaping perception. If we don&#8217;t see the cost, it seems not to exist. If we don&#8217;t experience it as a sacrifice, there seems to be no unequal relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">None of this implies a conspiracy; it implies a business model. The system doesn&#8217;t need us to believe in its goodness; it only needs us to feel comfortable. However, we must keep in mind that there are no miracles in economics. When something seems free, it&#8217;s simply because the payment method has shifted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">And what&#8217;s truly interesting isn&#8217;t that we pay with data, time, or attention, but that, by not paying with money, we stop feeling like we&#8217;re paying. Therein lies the most perfect gift of all: the carefully crafted illusion that someone is giving us something without asking for anything in return.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Author Bio:<\/strong> Victor Hugo Perez Gallo is an Assistant lecturer at the University of Zaragoza<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We live in the age of free things. Free social media, free email, free search engines, free maps, free news, free artificial intelligence. Capitalism, that system we so often accuse of greed, seems to have become generous. But there&#8217;s a small, uncomfortable detail: nothing in this world is self-generating. As\u00a0Karl Marx\u00a0reminded us , all value [&hellip;]\n&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/\" class=\"more\">learn more&rarr;<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[434724],"tags":[435657],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-79889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-internet","tag-free-things"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Eight &quot;free&quot; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eight &quot;free&quot; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We live in the age of free things. Free social media, free email, free search engines, free maps, free news, free artificial intelligence. Capitalism, that system we so often accuse of greed, seems to have become generous. But there&#8217;s a small, uncomfortable detail: nothing in this world is self-generating. As\u00a0Karl Marx\u00a0reminded us , all value [&hellip;]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-23T05:02:09+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"383\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Eight &#8220;free&#8221; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-23T05:02:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":942,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/freeinternet.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"free things\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Internet\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eight \\\"free\\\" things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/freeinternet.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-23T05:02:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/freeinternet.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/freeinternet.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":383},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Eight &#8220;free&#8221; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer &amp; tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eight \"free\" things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eight \"free\" things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"We live in the age of free things. Free social media, free email, free search engines, free maps, free news, free artificial intelligence. Capitalism, that system we so often accuse of greed, seems to have become generous. But there&#8217;s a small, uncomfortable detail: nothing in this world is self-generating. As\u00a0Karl Marx\u00a0reminded us , all value [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2026-03-23T05:02:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":383,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Eight &#8220;free&#8221; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet","datePublished":"2026-03-23T05:02:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/"},"wordCount":942,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg","keywords":["free things"],"articleSection":["Internet"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/","name":"Eight \"free\" things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-23T05:02:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/freeinternet.jpg","width":680,"height":383},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/eight-free-things-we-unknowingly-pay-for-when-we-use-the-internet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Eight &#8220;free&#8221; things we unknowingly pay for when we use the internet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer &amp; tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79893,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79889\/revisions\/79893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79889"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=79889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}