Could personal data make the world go round?
The recent scandals surrounding the use of personal data, the response of Facebook and other companies to improve their practices and regain control of the situation, together with the upcoming EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), have all revived the old question of personal data as the new oil and how it might be regulated, as well as which economic models could emerge.
These are early days, but the idea offers food for thought: what would an economy based on exploiting our data look like? Probably rather circular: a company with a product or service pays to use personal data to reach its customers, while the customer pays by providing that personal data. Or could it be the basis for some kind of universal basic income, such as the Alaska Permanent Fund, which periodically distributes part of oil revenue to residents of the state? The parallel between co-owning data and oil is an interesting idea. How far can we take the idea that companies who make money from our personal data should be obliged to share part of the income generated by the use of this data with its owners, thus creating income? Could a digital economy be created based on the use of public or private ownership of people’s data, and could payments be made based on the use of their data?
What would be the characteristics of an economy of this type? How much money could be extracted from the companies that today exploit our data, allowing them to make a profit and providing a source of income for the owners of that data, and how would we manage the use made of that data?
Could we establish in law what constitutes a privacy violation? Would this include receiving an advertisement based on the unauthorized use of our data? Who would benefit in an economy like this? Would such a system tend toward inequality: surely those with the most purchasing power would be the most sought after; or would it lead to a more egalitarian society?
What happens if we have full control over our data and decide to sell it to some companies, but not others, while participating in the income generated by them? Would the “rich” who do not need to sell their data, live free of advertising, while the “poor” would be constantly bombarded by it? And what about countries like China, where the state has unrestricted access to all data, and uses it as a means of social control? Are we talking, as Wired has suggested, about a new Cold War based on data exploitation by countries?
The issue raises more questions than answers. Are we trying to get our heads round something that could end up being the basis of a whole new economic and social system? Some of the largest companies in the world owe their success to having discovered a way to exploit the data of their users: is this model sustainable, or could the recent scandals spell the end of this model and greater control over their activities? Perhaps it now makes sense to move on to another, presumably more advanced model whereby revenue from data exploitation is shared with users? Or maybe we’re all just dreaming: how realistic is the idea of an economy based on personal data?
(En español, aquí)
