"A plan to profit from data on oneself" by Joshua Brustein | New York Times, February 13, 2012
NEW YORK - Facebook’s pending initial public offering gives credence to the argument that personal data is the oil of the digital age. The company was built on a formula common to the technology industry: Offer people a service, collect information about them as they use that service, and use that information to sell advertising.
People have been willing to give away their data, while the companies make money. But there is some momentum for the idea that personal data could function as a kind of online currency, to be cashed in directly or exchanged for other items of value. A number of start-ups allow people to take control, and perhaps profit from, the digital trails they leave on the Internet.
“That marketplace does not exist right now, because consumers are not in on the game,’’ said Shane Green, who founded a company called Personal in 2009.
The idea behind Green’s company involves two steps. First, his team created a series of personal data vaults, which contain thousands of data points about its users, which the company calls owners. This data can be as prosaic as birth dates or as specific as someone’s preference for spicy foods. People control what information they share and remove data they don’t want to share at any time.
The problem is that companies don’t need to pay for the information when they get it free.
“The killer app isn’t here yet,’’ said William Hoffman, who is working on a multiyear study of the economics of personal data for the World Economic Forum. But with increased consumer awareness of the value of that information - Facebook could be worth as much as $100 billion - that may soon change. “I’m willing to bet that within the next 12 months something big will catch on,’’ he said.
The concept of treating data like currency has long excited certain computer programmers and academics. But to almost everyone else, it is boring. Personal data management has none of the obvious appeal of social networks or smartphones. But concerns about privacy may be changing that, Hoffman said.
Many of the new ideas center on a concept known as the personal data locker. People keep a single account with information about themselves.
Yeah, why not collate all the information for the NSA first? At least you'll make a few cents.
Businesses would pay for this data because it allows them to offer personalized products and advertising. And because people retain control over the data in their lockers, they can demand something of value in return - maybe a discounted vacation, or a cash payment.
Proponents of personal data lockers see them more than simply a solution to privacy concerns. They hope that people will share even more information if there is a market for it.
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Related:
In Big Data, investors see big, profitable uses
And, of course, "investors" are always looking out for your best interest.
Google data reveal users’ obsessions for 2012
And they passed them along to the NSA.
"Data brokers facing scrutiny from Congress; Privacy panel asks for details" by Natasha Singer | New York Times, July 25, 2012
In a move that could lay bare the inner workings of the consumer data industry, eight members of Congress have opened a sweeping investigation into data brokers — companies that collect, collate, analyze, and sell billions of details annually about consumers’ offline, online, and mobile activities for marketing and other purposes.
Gee, what could those "other purposes" be?
Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, cochairmen of the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, along with six other lawmakers, sent letters of inquiry on Tuesday afternoon to nine leading industry players. In the letter, the legislators requested extensive information about how the companies amass, refine, sell, and share consumer data.
After the NSA scandal here we know they can't say anything, and are obligated by law to lie.
Data brokers often collect details about people’s financial, retail, and recreational activities to help clients like airlines, automakers, banks, credit card issuers, and retailers retain their best customers and woo new ones.
The letter’s recipients included marketing services firms like Acxiom and Epsilon; consumer reporting agencies like Experian and Equifax; Fair Isaac, now known as FICO, the credit scoring services company; and Intelius, a company that offers reverse phone look-up and background checks.
The congressional inquiry heightens the scrutiny of a largely unregulated industry whose companies sell their services to third parties.
In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission initiated an investigation into the practices of more than a dozen data compilers; one, Spokeo, recently agreed to settle charges with the government that it had violated federal law by selling consumers’ personal data for employment screening. Now Markey says he wants the congressional investigation to further expose data broker practices, saying some had the potential to affect people’s access to education, health care, employment, or economic opportunities.
It's called a soft tyranny. The threat is as good as the action.
But Markey’s ultimate goal is to determine whether legislators should enact a law regulating the industry.
The privacy caucus’s letter was prompted by an article in The New York Times about Acxiom, based in Little Rock, Ark. Markey’s office gave The Times a copy of the letter.
Industry representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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"Privacy a worry as an app scans the bar scene; Firm says its technology doesn’t identify people" by James H. Burnett III | Globe Staff, December 26, 2012
"Privacy a worry as an app scans the bar scene; Firm says its technology doesn’t identify people" by James H. Burnett III | Globe Staff, December 26, 2012
A company called SceneTap has launched a smartphone application at more than 30 bars....
That’s making some people so nervous that when SceneTap launched last spring in San Francisco, it sparked outrage and forced the chief executive to issue a letter to quell the anger. At the heart of the issue is privacy, something Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others have learned can incite the masses when mishandled.
SceneTap gathers data by collecting images from what is called a facial detection reader inside the bars. It locks in on a silhouette from the neck up and measures 14 data points on the featureless face, determining within seconds whether the subject is male or female and the person’s approximate age. It’s not facial recognition, like the picture-taking technology used at airports. But because SceneTap’s patent application includes language about facial recognition, some critics worry it’s only a matter of time before the company tries to collect more detailed information....
Stay out of bar.
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