One of the obvious existing “information markets” is the world of consumer loyalty schemes. Major loyalty schemes, such as those of Boots, Tesco, and the multi-retailer Nectar scheme are explicitly exchanging points for information. Whilst few people know what a point is actually worth (and that’s because it’s not easy to know, but that’s another story) a lot of people seem to think that giving de... »
The history of technology is fascinating. It’s not just finding out more about, say, Alexander Graham Bell and the fact that he probably shouldn’t be remembered as the man who invented the telephone (arguably it was Elisha Grey – see Wikipedia to learn more), but in truth, probably no one person did. Technologies are created by the coming together of a host of innovations, and the point at w... »
An interesting article by Adam Tanner on the Forbes website in which he traces where one particular piece of junk mail came from. Tanner is a fellow at Harvard University’s Department of Government and is writing a book on the business of personal data. He’s looking for answers to questions such as who are the people and firms gathering such information? What details are they putting together, how... »
The propositions that Handshake is built upon seem quite simple in principle (see Duncan White’s “What is Handshake” post? ): 1: information is valuable 2: there are people who have information, such as their personal data, and there are people who want that information, such as advertisers, analysts and businesses of all kinds 3: both people can benefit if they can work out a mutually acceptable ... »
Trust is a little word, but it deals with some very big issues, from what it means to be human to the wealth of nations. And it’s time that business took it seriously. Graham Greene, the English novelist and playwright, perhaps summed it up most concisely: “It is impossible to go through life without trust: to do so is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself” From the moment we are born... »
As we noted in our previous post about personalised pricing, at the moment it’s thought that businesses are only just beginning to experiment with individualised pricing based on analysis of their customers personal data. But at the moment no-one knows a great deal about what exactly is happening. In November 2012 the UK’s Office of Fair Trading issued a “call for information” asking businesses to... »
Personal data has considerable value and people are starting to recognise it. That’s because wherever they go and whatever they do it seems that there are people asking them for that data. From multiple questions when we make even the simplest of requests, to the cookies that are loaded onto our browsers as we surf the net, to the repeated requests to provide feedback and complete surveys, every ... »
Since Edward Snowdon, the US whistle-blower, first leaked details of the NSA’s PRISM and related programs on June 7th, two clear themes have emerged within the ensuing debate. The first is the notion of exchange and the need for this exchange to be equitable. President Obama and others have sought to justify the PRISM program in terms of the exchange of privacy in return for (increased) security,... »
