How much would you sell your personal data for?

An article in the Financial Times (£) explores the value and sale of personal data, noting that the online data brokerage market already has access to a wide range of intrusive information, from daily purchases and movements to driving habits. The author claims that public fatigue over privacy concerns has grown, making people question the effort to protect their data when so much is already being harvested.

To support its argument, the article highlights a polling company called The Generation Lab, which offered young people an average of $50 per month to install a tracker on their phones to monitor their habits and purchases. It is difficult to determine whether this is a fair price, as the value of data is opaque. Prices for data vary depending on the type of information, with easily accessible data like phone numbers being sold for as little as 12 cents per person, while more valuable data, such as location and health information, is worth more. The value also depends on the buyer, who could be an ad tech company, a law enforcement agency, or even a hedge fund.

The article also points out that even though these transactions are legal, they often lack transparency. While some jurisdictions, like Europe, require apps to notify users about data collection and offer opt-outs, the United States has no federal privacy law. 

The author concludes that without clarity over pricing, as well as greater transparency about what they collect, how much they sell it for, and who they sell it to, people lack the knowledge to determine an accurate value for their personal information and thus whether it is an equitable transaction. 

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