Using Data Responsibly

Emerging trends suggest new opportunities for individuals to regain control of their personal data, giving people more power as actors in the data market. People are looking for ways to keep their data secure and to monetize it and to get better value in exchange for the personal information they provide. Newer business models ­– driven by technological advances and people's greater awareness of the transactions and value of data markets ­– are prompting creation of a more balanced market for personal data. However, scope remains for greater coordination or even aggregation of data streams and sources to maximize value.

Emerging business models allow people to control and directly sell their data to businesses. Companies such as Datacoup30 enable users to sell their personal data for a monthly fee, for example, data generated through social media activity and credit card transactions. Another example of this is Alphabet's Project Baseline, which collects laboratory results and real-time health data from individuals wearing a special wristband. Participants in the study share their health data for two years and receive US$410 per annual visit, US$30 per visit for quarterly assessments, and US$10 for filling in questionnaires.

Businesses are finding that their customers are becoming more informed about the use of their data and the potential monetary value of it, and expect value in return for data used to target marketing and for data sold to third parties. Companies may also begin to find that they lose customers when they fail to keep data secure; however, the winner-takes-all nature of many of the platforms and services in use today might mean that an exodus might not occur often or easily.

For individuals, the biggest benefit is regaining control of personal data. A second gain could be more accurate data, as individuals would have a greater incentive to keep it up to date to better monetize it. This protects people in instances in which out-of-date information might be used against them (such as applying for loans or insurance). More comprehensive information could also expand the scope of applications and services. Third, personal information would be centralized and simplified using personal data management software. Individuals would have fewer passwords to keep track of.

Thus, it should be possible for people to act as dataproducing entrepreneurs ­– having a data profile, personal data management software, and an online wallet ­– and exchange the data for money, discount coupons, or free applications and services. The World Economic Forum has proposed the concept of a data bank account, in which an individual's data would "reside in an account where it would be controlled, managed, exchanged and accounted for".

One challenge lies in determining the value of personal data. In Italy, a team of researchers monitored a study group that auctioned off smartphone data for two months, with the median bid across all data categories of €2 (US$2.72). One individual sold his personal data on a crowdsourcing site for US$2–US$200 (depending on the amount and frequency of the information), earning US$2,733 from 213 backers in one month, or an average of US$12.83 per backer. Another study uses operating metrics from Experian and Facebook, companies whose revenues are largely generated from personal data, finding that the average revenue per user of both was about US$6 a year (Roosendaal, van Lieshout, and van Veenstra 2014). Another perspective on personal data valuation is total global digital advertising revenue (US$178 billion; see Magna Global 2017) divided by the number of internet users around the world (3.4 billion), for an average of US$53 in 2016.

Personal data does not have a uniform value and varies according to several variables, such as type of information and income of user. Data from Facebook confirms the latter, with the company having different average revenue per user depending on the region. In the end, the value of personal data will be determined by what purchasers are willing to pay. This will become more apparent with the emergence of global, regional, and national markets for personal data, in which data collectors would review the data available and purchase directly from individuals or third parties they have entrusted the data to. Personal data management software that individuals can operate themselves or where firms act as trusted custodians for users who lack the skills are already on the market.

It is certain that large internet companies will resist individuals' greater control over personal data. Collecting personal data is at the center of these companies' business models, driven by the willingness of individuals to sacrifice personal data for unpaid services. Developed and developing countries also appear to be split over the threat to businesses of individuals monetizing their personal data. In developed nations, it is less of a threat to businesses, with bigger worries in government regulation, cyberattacks, and personal data protection applications. But in Brazil, China, and India, individuals charging for their personal data is among the top business concerns.

However, the unbalanced personal data market could lead to greater disenfranchisement among individuals. This in turn could lead a growing number of individuals to opt out of the existing arrangement.

Tools are already available that give people greater control over their personal information. For example, a Swedish company claims, in a few clicks, to be able to find and delete accounts created using Gmail. Stricter policies about sharing personal information are available with free email, office applications, and browsers. Scope also exists for paid tools with tighter privacy controls, as users might pay for applications and services that protect different types of personal information. One study found that individuals in the United States would pay most to protect government identification, those in India for credit card information, and in Germany and the United Kingdom, for medical records. Products also exist for individuals to protect at least some personal information from internet service providers. In addition, cookie controls and ad blockers will allow users to block online marketing generated from their personal information.

Some individuals have consciously decided to restrict sharing of personal data. Ironically, many people involved in the social media or technology industries limit their use of these services or systems because of concerns about psychological and other dangers caused by services using their personal data. These trends may initially lack the scale of the large internet companies, but could grow as more individuals weigh the tradeoff between sacrificing personal data for unpaid services.