If it’s free, then you are the commodity. There is always a hidden price and more often than not, in the digital world, we pay that price with our privacy and personal data.
The Problem
As we traverse the digital jungle within the online ecosystem, we leave digital footprints behind. Traces, of our activities, can be collected and followed by companies that put the pieces of information together to form a bigger and more identifiable picture of you as an individual person. Most of the time the data that we share about ourselves, directly or indirectly, are details such as our name, date of birth and address. More often than not, more sensitive details are disclosed about our personal lives such as our banking details. This is especially valuable for marketers who want to target you with advertisements for their products in the hopes of winning you over as a new customer.
Sadly, it is not only the marketing industry that seeks your data with such eagerness, it is also the bad actors, posing a cyber threat to the web. Most of these individuals or groups can be commonly referred to as hackers.
What a hacker would do in a typical attack, especially when sabotaging a large and well-known firm such as Google or Amazon, whose cybersecurity systems are ‘top notch’ (or should be), is make use of what is called a zero-day exploit. Typically these exploits are targeted at a weakness in the company’s security infrastructure that the cybersecurity team is not aware of.
On the dark web, the other side of the Internet, your stolen data can be sold at attractive prices (see the updated list below).
Why Personal Data?
With the number of active digital users increasing daily, we can take a look at the EU for example, with a projected figure of 715.34M users using some form of online services by 2025. Couple this data with the average yearly expenditure of EUR 146.4B. spent on marketing and advertising then consider how many of those advertisements that you receive are irrelevant to your personal needs. That is a lot of money wasted.
User data that businesses collect can be broken down into four main categories:
Personal data. This includes information that can identify an individual. It could include details such as your date of birth, social security number and gender. Furthermore, it could include nonpersonally identifiable information such as your IP address, browser cookies, and device IDs — which both your laptop and mobile device have).
Engagement data. This is the type of data that reveals details about how you interact with a business’s website, mobile applications, text messages, social media pages, emails, paid advertisements and customer service routes.
Behavioural data. This usually includes transactional details such as purchase histories on e-commerce websites, product usage information (repeated actions), and qualitative data (mouse movement information).
Attitudinal data. This data type encompasses metrics on consumer satisfaction, purchase criteria, product desirability and more.
Data is collected by the use of sophisticated software and once obtained, it is regularly exchanged with third parties who previously had no access to the data.
So this begs the question: why is your data being collected in the first place? Here are four of the main reasons:
> To improve the customer experience.
> To refine a company’s marketing strategy (as mentioned earlier on in this post).
> To transform the data into cash flow.
> To secure more data.
The Situation Today
Previously digital users were not very much concerned with how their social media affected their privacy exposure, but following the Cambridge Analytica Scandal, this all changed. Following the unfortunate event, the following information was noted:
* 20% of the consumer did not have a currently active Facebook account due to privacy concerns as the main reason for not having a Facebook account.
* 9% of respondents had a Facebook account and deleted it at some point in the past few years. Again, many cited data privacy reasons as a motivator.
* 39% of consumers had already changed their Facebook privacy settings due to privacy concerns.
Furthermore, based on a survey conducted by Foresight Factory on behalf of the GDMA, digital users today are more aware of the effects that the collection of their data has on the economy. The majority of consumers (47%) surveyed remain ‘Data Pragmatists’, who are happy to exchange data with businesses so long as there is a clear benefit for doing so.
The average user’s data is worth in the realms of EUR 1800 to EUR 2800 but can be as high as EUR 6000. This begs the question, how can you benefit from this?
Well, for one, you can join loyalty programs that incentivise you for sharing your data based on the type of ads that you find acceptable to see. But will you truly grasp the core value through these actions? Remember, if it’s free, then you are the commodity.
With the implementation of the GDPR in the EU and the CCPA in the US, regulators are tightening the grip on companies and the act of collecting data from users.
Did you know: Companies that ignore GDPR compliance and fail to abide by their legal obligation to uphold consumer privacy may face fines of up to 20 million euros or up to 4% of annual revenue, whichever is higher.
This enables users to gain more control over how their data is shared and who has access to it. But it still does not solve the issue of the user not being renumerated for their personal data.
The Solution
Nerian solves this issue by sourcing the data and handing it over to the user, where they can safely stow it in their own encrypted data vault. From their data vault, they can then decide whether they would like to destroy the data altogether, just keep it for a rainy day, or monetize it. Nerian aims to be transparent with all their activities hence they would charge a flat fee on all transactions. These transactions will be paid for in the NERIAN token, adding utility to the token and incorporating it as the core currency for the transfer of value within the Nerian ecosystem.
Taking a look at the project’s roadmap, the team expects the mobile application to launch towards the end of Q3 2022, enabling users to take action over their right to privacy and start becoming the masters over their own data.
Official Links
External References:
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10625-businesses-collecting-data.html
https://thecleverprogrammer.com/2020/10/06/why-data-is-valuable/
