DIGITAL LIFE

Since privacy is over, how about selling your personal data?

If privacy is really a thing of the past, then people should at least profit from their own personal information.This is the view on data rights advocated by Brittany Kaiser, who came out this year to testify about how her former employer, Cambridge Analytica, has unduly consumed the data of millions of Facebook users. This perspective is shared by an increasing number of Internet users around the world who are realizing that the online empires of Facebook and Google rely on the data they give without any compensation.The question is how. Facebook, for example, could distribute digital tokens to its 2.2 billion users in exchange for the intimate information used every day by advertisers on the social network, Kaiser suggests."Privacy does not exist in an era of post-Facebook crisis," Kaiser told the Sooner Than You Think summit organized by Bloomberg in Singapore. "The digital assets that you produce every day are your own human value. You should be able to own them and receive a portion of that monetization. "From a personal point of view, real ownership and control of data would entail putting all of your information - from political inclinations and product preferences to medical history - into one place, so people can decide who will have access and under what conditions. This can mean anything from selling to limited use in exchange for a free service (like Facebook) - or keeping them completely private.Privacy is simply not possible in this post-crisis era of Facebook, Kaiser said. However, consumers should avoid "fomenting fear" or sticking to the idea that no data is safe. As an example, she mentioned the General Regulation on Data Protection of the European Union, which came into force in May and focuses on the protection of personal data. Companies now face tighter rules on consent and higher fines for any data breaches. This structure is helping to push the United States into stricter legislation, she said.
Ultimately, it is about asserting control over your own valuable assets.
"It's just like with Airbnb: if someone uses their physical assets, it would be normal to come to an agreement on the price and what they will do with the property before handing over the keys to their home," Kaiser said. "Why would it be different with your data?"


Michelle Jamrisko and Mark Miller of Bloomberg