Google and Facebook should pay users for their data

mrbell1984 said:
Wouldn't need a law to buy peoples data. People give it away for free today so what's the difference. It would just need the platform.
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You would need a law that requires personal data to be bought and sold via data marts ONLY (for instance, google wouldn’t just be able to take your personal data without you first having sold it to them through a data mart where you have full transparency over how much they are paying you for it, what they will use it for, etc.).
 
mrochester said:
You would need a law that requires personal data to be bought and sold via data marts ONLY (for instance, google wouldn’t just be able to take your personal data without you first having sold it to them through a data mart where you have full transparency over how much they are paying you for it, what they will use it for, etc.).
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Personal data is given away for free so why would it need a law.
 
mrbell1984 said:
Personal data is given away for free so why would it need a law.
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Personal data has value. The data mart would allow you to see the value of your data and the companies that are bidding to buy it from you. It would be illegal for companies to obtain data outside of the data mart.
 
Of all the reasons I deleted my Facebook account years ago, them making a profit from my data is pretty low on the list. The problem with Facebook is that a huge number of people view it as a public service and think it's a bona fide source of information. Now, if those people are blissfully ignorant and happy to use the service, I don't think it's unreasonable for Facebook to turn a profit from the content in the absence of actual cash changing hands.

It may appear to be a facetious statement to make, but Facebook isn't a public service and membership isn't compulsory.
 
mrochester said:
Personal data has value. The data mart would allow you to see the value of your data and the companies that are bidding to buy it from you. It would be illegal for companies to obtain data outside of the data mart.
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Personal data (plural) indeed has value, a person's data (individual) not so much.

Predictive analytics, lookalike algorithms, the Big Data functions need volume to work effectively.
 
mrochester said:
No but I think people should be paid fairly for their personal data. And in the absence of people actually knowing how much their data is worth (because they’ve never had to think of it that way), there should be regulation that determines that. Google and Facebook are quite happy to pay you nothing for your data because that increases their profit margin, and they won’t voluntarily pay you for it either.
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So basically you think the state should set maximum profit margins for a company? This is basically communism.


Google and Facebook are happy to pay you nothing, users are happy to get the service in exchange for data.
 
D.P. said:
So basically you think the state should set maximum profit margins for a company? This is basically communism.


Google and Facebook are happy to pay you nothing, users are happy to get the service in exchange for data.
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No I believe the state should mandate that companies have to bid for user data by means of a data mart so that you can sell to the highest bidder, or to the company you believe to be the most ethical, etc etc.

I strongly believe users should be in full control of their own data AND it should be clear to the user how valuable their data is so that they can make an informed decision about what services to use.
 
mrochester said:
No I believe the state should mandate that companies have to bid for user data by means of a data mart so that you can sell to the highest bidder, or to the company you believe to be the most ethical, etc etc.

I strongly believe users should be in full control of their own data AND it should be clear to the user how valuable their data is so that they can make an informed decision about what services to use.
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To be honest, I think you're overestimating how much the average social media user gives a ****. As someone else mentioned, the price that one person could charge for their data is probably very little anyway - probably similar to the amount that someone would be willing to pay for a largely inane service like FB in the first place, if it wasn't paid for by all the data farming and advertising.
 
R.P.L said:
To be honest, I think you're overestimating how much the average social media user gives a ****. As someone else mentioned, the price that one person could charge for their data is probably very little anyway - probably similar to the amount that someone would be willing to pay for a largely inane service like FB in the first place, if it wasn't paid for by all the data farming and advertising.
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It wouldn't be so much that you would 'charge' for your data, it would be a bidding system where companies that want your data would offer you a price (and you could see what they were going to do with it before making a decision as to whether to sell to them or not). That way the user can choose to sell to the highest bidder, sell to the bidder that has the most ethical use of the data etc. In all aspects, the user should be in full control of their data and they should clearly be able to see what it is worth. Much like shops have to advertise EXACTLY what a product costs when it is money that is changing hands it should be the same for personal data.
 
FerretBoy said:
The services are optional, so you are already empowered.
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Actually, a lot of website have Google and Facebook code integrated which serves as trackers for them, so even if you are not a member of their services they can build up a profile of people just with their IP address. I'd assume with all of the data sharing that goes on it should be quite easy for them to translate IP address into a real identity. The problem with the internet is it has become too centralised around half a dozen services, the days of Geocities and every man and his dog having a rookie looking website with scrolling text that they took pride in are long gone, people just use things like Facebook to build a website for themselves.
 
G-MAN2004 said:
Google still harvests your data and builds a profile on you even if you don't use their services. Most websites use Google analytics for example.
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The thing I find strange is, what is the objection to having greater control, transparency and obtaining greater value from your personal data? We owe these companies nothing.
 
mrochester said:
The thing I find strange is, what is the objection to having greater control, transparency and obtaining greater value from your personal data? We owe these companies nothing.
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I have no idea. You won't get much agreement on here though as people can't seem to understsnd why privacy and our data are important to protect. You'll get lumped into the crazy category like me for being anti-Google. :o
 
mrochester said:
It wouldn't be so much that you would 'charge' for your data, it would be a bidding system where companies that want your data would offer you a price (and you could see what they were going to do with it before making a decision as to whether to sell to them or not). That way the user can choose to sell to the highest bidder, sell to the bidder that has the most ethical use of the data etc. In all aspects, the user should be in full control of their data and they should clearly be able to see what it is worth. Much like shops have to advertise EXACTLY what a product costs when it is money that is changing hands it should be the same for personal data.
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How exactly are companies to know the value of your data, if they don't know what your data is? That is like saying you are selling a car, and people can bid on it, but you give no details on the car (it could be a bloody Hotwheels for all they know).

Also, do you honestly think our data is something that is easy to manage or understand? For the vast majority of the world it is not.
 
mrochester said:
The people who are saying 'don't like, don't use' instead of 'don't like, change rules and regulations'.
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Most people are not bothered about the rules and regulations though especially when it comes to peoples data. I think 2020 will be a big year for privacy, data regulations and control due to the new browser war that's happening and also other concerns.
 
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