Skip to content
Surprising Science

What if Facebook Paid You for Your Data?

When Facebook becomes a publicly traded company, it stands to earn $24 billion. So why doesn't Mark Zuckerberg compensate us? After all, we supply all the personal data he sells to advertisers.

What’s the Latest Development?


Several Internet start ups are reevaluating the way companies value personal data by offering to share advertising revenue with their users, who after all provide the data which is sold to advertisers. One social network called Chime.In already offers compensation and is part “of a larger trend of startups that are launching with the argument that consumers themselves should control their personal data, which is being pointed to as the currency of the 21st century.”

What’s the Big Idea?

While money may remain the currency of the 21st century, detailed data about one’s life and habits are becoming so ubiquitous that many believe we need better ways to manage it all, ways that benefit us, the providers of the data. One solution is a personal data locker that stores all your valuable information so that you know who has access to it. You could choose to connect your data with your family doctor, the electricity grid, insurance companies and investment bankers. Follow the link to see a video of what a data locker would look like.


Related

Up Next
–Guest post by Judy Millili, American University graduate student. In today’s technologically-driven digital age, consumers are constantly inundated with drug advertisements that encourage active engagement in making decisions related to their […]