It is said that data is the new oil of this era because it nourishes the economy in one and a thousand ways. Social networks, search engines, and e-commerce platforms use data to generate personalized ads; some companies use it to optimize processes and thus save money or to create products increasingly oriented to the needs of their customers.
The point is that currently this data is delivered for free every time a person registers on a platform, when using a browser and visiting a page that, through cookies, stores the user’s movements within the site. Telephone companies can also obtain lots of data because they know the location of users at any given time.
Even when a person goes out, and sensors or cameras capture the image or movements in the city, digital data is produced that is used to create solutions that could translate into money. It is how the big data universe works.
What would happen if companies could be charged for the use of that personal information?
Sometimes you let companies use your data, just by accepting privacy conditions without reading, downloading apps that need access to view your photos, allow a GPS to know at all times where we are, or storing images in a cloud, to name a few.
Aware of the growing value of information in the economy, more and more companies are emerging that try to treat people’s personal info with care as a differential value.
One solution would be to create a decentralized market of data so that users can appropriate their information and sell it safely and anonymously.
It is estimated that, at present, the data that a user passively generates annually just by browsing the web, using social networks or different applications can be worth USD $240.
From the point of view of the data-buyer
Organizations receive anonymous data packages and use them for their research or projects. Being a decentralized market of anonymous data, the challenge is to know if that information is reliable because there could be many false profiles generated from different devices to create money.
Banks, for example, could be financial data verifiers and telephony companies could be responsible for verifying geolocation. The truth is that all entities that can collect and control data could eventually become verifiers.
Who would want to buy data that circulates for free?
For starters, it should be noted that although several companies collect information, not all can do so in an adequate, safe and orderly manner. Proof of this is that there are companies responsible for processing the large volume of information that is circulating on the web and then offering it, anonymously, to different companies.
Within the various measures that are specified in this regulation is the portability of data — which will allow the user to receive the personal information that has been provided to an entity, in a structured and commonly used format, to grant to another organization. It will work like number portability, but in this case, the asset that the user has is his personal info.
This initiative puts greater responsibility concerning one’s data in the hands of the user. In this sense, rights of the user are recognized, and a mechanism is provided to enforce these.Â
Democratize access to data and the benefits it generates
The battle for some is not to oppose the collection and processing of data but to ensure that users can also take advantage of this new form of wealth generation. At present, the benefits are concentrated in few hands, but through some new proposals, data could be democratized and its benefits distributed in a more equitable way.
With a positive outcome, we will be able to cash in on our data and have extra income just for doing data-generating day-to-day activities.
In the centralized internet model, the user transfers his data to large giants such as Facebook, Google or Microsoft. In return, he receives information of all kinds and for different utilities: from a job offer to meeting friends and beyond.
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