this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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It seems so strange to me that everyone buys the bullshit that personal data is worth very little.
The data brokerage industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry. Yet, there are only ~8 billion people in the world, many of whom don't have internet access or have very little data being traded. Thus it's reasonably safe to assume that an average regular internet user's data is worth somewhere in the region of $1,000 per year.
These companies don't do anything with the data. We create the data, they collect it and sell it, then whoever buys it is the one that actually makes something from it. If we allow the brokers a very generous profit margin, they are still stealing $500-700 from every one of us, every year.
If you're online. You need to assume that your data is being used without your permission whether you like it or not. Nothing is going to change. Look at the hordes of brain dead idiots who use tiktok
That's the wrong attitude to have. It can change, and arguably it will change once a critical mass of people realise the value being stolen from them.
You can't build a car without paying for the nuts and bolts. The people who make nuts and bolts don't know how to build a car, but they're still paid a fair value based on the fact their product can be used in cars.
We don't know how to do anything with our data, but we should be paid based on the value derived from it by those that do.
This problem affects everyone, including the people who make laws. It is entirely feasible that we can get enough people on side to change things and make it more fair. Incumbent businesses won't like that, because it will reduce their profits (100% down to 30%), but what they're doing now is absolutely wrong. They'd still be taking the piss at 30%, but at least that's more in line with other industries.
That critical mass will never come because people don't feel the data has been stolen from them.
Rather, it's traded in exchange for whatever online services they use.
And to them it's a decent trade.
I think that's fair if the service is free. If I'm paying for it then they shouldn't be double dipping with my data as well.
But that's the thing, that isn't what's happening. The website is provided free of charge.
Then, the website tries to shoehorn in another, separate transaction and hide it in the fine print, where you give up your data free of charge.
There is a huge amount of deception involved. The whole point of my comment here is to try and dispel that deception, by putting hard numbers to it to show that there is significant value being taken.