How Much Is Your Data Worth?
By: Tyler B.
Tags: Privacy, Data, Google, Facebook, Tech

Every time that you register for a new website for free you have to give out your name, email, and date of birth. Sometimes your address, if you’re shopping online. Other times your interests, if you’re hanging out on social media.

It might not seem like much to us, but to those websites and companies, your data is their most valuable asset. If they know where you live, what you like, and what you’ve bought in the past, they can sell you products that are specifically tailored for you.

Just Facebook is making an average of $7.05 in ad revenue daily for each user. They have over 2.41 billion monthly active users. (The Washington Post, 2019)

So are you really registering for free?

Name your Price!

Your data is not only being used to sell you stuff, but it’s also part of many performance reports and predictive analysis. Companies need to know how their products are performing among a certain demographic and learn from that information to launch more accurate campaigns based on their objectives. Your online data is part of that equation, but once it’s stored on a website it’s no longer private data, right?

Then, how much is your data worth?

That’s pretty hard to tell because big companies won’t reveal that information to the public. For that reason, Mark R. Warner and Josh Hawley, two senators from the United States, were recently after a new law that would force giants like Google, Facebook, and others to disclose the value of their data with their customers and financial regulators. Additionally, they would have to give users the right to delete their data from the database.

It’s a noble cause, but can it actually turn into a reality? For now, all we can do is guess.

It’s Not That Simple

A law to empower users and add more transparency to the digital landscape seems like a good idea on the surface, but we’re gonna need a more detailed plan of action to actually make it work. The problem with the proposed legislation is that it doesn’t have a specific solution for how to estimate the value of a user’s data, leaving that problem to third parties.

A method to calculate this value would have to take into account not only the basic information that we share when we register but also all the mundane activities that big companies have on us. Our search history, our Facebook likes and reactions, our website retention and click-through rates. It’s a lot more complicated than it seems.

Some users have tried to estimate the value of their own data, but it’s all based on conjectures without any solid process to support their claims. And even if we could arrive at a clear number, I’m not so sure that it would make all of our privacy problems disappear. On the contrary, people might be more inclined to sell their data for a quick buck without considering the long term consequences to their own rights.

Targeted ads are just a surface problem. A lot of users don’t mind them. The real problem is what’s happening behind the scenes. When companies use your information to predict your behavior they’re not adapting themselves to you, they’re adapting you to them. After all, they have the final say of what you see on your feed and can influence your activity towards the most profitable outcome.

Final Thoughts

As it is, the legislation in question doesn’t seem to have enough to sustain a long term solution against the control of big companies over our data. Furthermore, I don’t believe that having a consensus on the numeric value of said data will make much of a difference either. That won’t reflect the power that our information has to predict our actions or influence us in the future.

That’s why I think we’re looking at it from the wrong angle. It’s not only about quantity but also about quality value. The data that we share has an effect on our lives and also on other people’s lives who are close to us.

We may have not arrived at a practical solution just yet, but awareness is the first step. Let’s focus our efforts on the problem and how it affects our privacy instead of how much it would cost to sell our problems away. Those are just my two cents on the matter.

What do you think? I would like to hear your thoughts!

Want to know more about us?

🔥 Check out our Website for updates!

🗨️ Join our Telegram Group.

📢 Give us a shout-out on Facebook.