A recent report showing that people value their personal data at around £3,000 interested us here at digi.me HQ because we believe the information that makes up you and your life experiences is worth much more than just a number.
The survey of 1,000 people by digital storage company Western Digital found they put an average value of £3, 241 on their personal data.
Men valued it slightly more highly, at £4,174 compared to £3,109 for women and were more willing to sell it, with only 23pc calling it ‘priceless’ against 31pc of the women.
But what if you could do more with your data than just sell it or not? What if you could make it work for you – and even benefit wider society at the same time?
That, in a nutshell, is the digi.me vision – we unlock the power of your personal data, but then leave it up to you how you wield that power.
Imagine you had all of your data, covering specific fields such as health (not just your GP records but wearables too, such as how much you exercise and how much sleep you get), financials and purchases gathered together in one place that you and you alone could access, unless you granted permission.
You could, of course, just keep it for yourself – browse it, explore it, enjoy it – and gain new insights from having everything about you collected together. Nothing wrong with that.
But you could also choose to do something with it – share it with a company whose products or services you were interested in, for example, in exchange for a personalised offer or discount.
Suddenly, your data is working a lot harder and only in a good way. You get something you want, at a better price or with something extra thrown in, and in return the retailer gets to view 100pc solid and reliable data, which helps them hone and refine their offering and business. Quick and convenient, mutually pleasing and desirable.
Now imagine all your friends and neighbours are doing this as well – suddenly, everyone is benefiting from their data, including businesses and services who suddenly have lots of fully accurate rich data to work with, instead of the slices of fragmented and unreliable data currently gleaned from tracking ads and the like.
If enough people get involved, it could change the future direction of products and services, not to mention the face of public and individual sector innovation, as new avenues become possible and indeed desirable if it can be proved there is a need for them.
Right there, your data could be part of a social revolution, and you’re benefiting at the same time.
So yes, data can have a price – and you’re able to sell it if you wish. But isn’t there so much more value to be had elsewhere if we use or imaginations and apps like digi.me?
*To read more about our mission to unlock personal data and enable the personal data economy, see https://get.digi.me/
That was a great article Emma. Probably one of the best I’ve ever read on the subject. Well thought out. It was apparent you had spent a great many hours thinking on this subject.
Personally, I am 100% Absolutely Unequivocally AGAINST Corporations taking our data. Especially when we’re not told, but even when we are told, many people do not understand the ramifications of such data being in a public realm.
For instance, teenagers posting everything about their lives and more than any parent really wanted to know on facebook. Corps snatch that up and bingo… they graduate College with a 3.6GPA but, the person that is also trying out for the same job has a 3.2GPA, all other items being equal, except, 3.2 never posted to facebook or any other social media website – we’ll just assume he/she was in a convent or monastery for the purpose of this note.
Want to guess which one will get the job? yes, 3.2 ;
Privacy as we have had our invaded, I fear has yet to really sink into the public. Until it starts to have a direct effect on their lives, they do not fully understand it. Yet, we see it in politics, in our public school system, in our news, every aspect of our lives, phone calls, documents, legal papers, car driving records, our personal data, medical, and more than we can fully comprehend, has been gathered, categorized, keyword applied, statistically analyzed by those whose IQ’s would make einstein envious, and applied against our best interests in the quest for money. Our Money. Our Health. Our Educations.
Another point of view to look at. and be sure to see william Binney’s video, here’s the url, he told congress in 2001, that everything was recorded and stored then. Almost 16 years ago now. Which means a couple could have been starting out with their first child, and that child is now essentially grown and driving a car. All those grama birthday cards, all those communications, those hopes and dreams exploited to get us to take out a loan, buy a new car, every vacation, whether driven or flown, each hotel, each phone call from the hotel, everything a person purchased from the mini-bar, everything. Stored. Catalogued. Recorded.
I love Digi Me, You folks are absolutely wonderful and I think I’ve used your software since you first started business. But I feel before people should even consider ‘selling their data’ to the corporations, they should fully comprehend what it is they are selling. It could actually mean their life, livelihood and future, of not only themselves but also their family in some cases.
I wonder if people truly understand how long their data has been collected.
*Hugs*
Thanks again for such a wonderful article. I loved it, and if I were to ever sell my data, I would definitely throw in with you.
I want to throw in with you simply to protect people who don’t want ot sell it. You’ve a great idea. 😀
Thank you Elaine, you make lots of good points and you’re right that many people, especially the young, don’t consider the future impact of what they post online now. And lovely to hear you’re a fan of what we’re doing – we’re making some big steps with our product, so please stay tuned!