Willing Buyer, Willing Seller: Personal Data Trade as a Service
This addresses privacy and autonomy concerns for users in data-driven economies, but it is incremental as it builds on existing ideas of data ownership and markets without introducing new technological breakthroughs.
The paper tackles the problem of users lacking control over their personal data collection and usage by companies, proposing a design fiction for a market where users autonomously trade their data through third-party subscription platforms. The result is a conceptual framework for transparent transactions that preserve user control, though no concrete numbers or empirical results are provided.
There is an increased sensitivity by people about how companies collect information about them, and how this information is packaged, used and sold. This perceived lack of control is highlighted by the helplessness of users of various platforms in managing or halting what data is collected from/about them. In a future where users have wrested control of their data and have the autonomy to decide what information is collected, how it is used and most importantly, how much it is worth, a new market emerges. This design fiction considers possible steps prescient companies would take to meet these demands, such as providing third-party subscription platforms offering personal data trade as a service. These services would provide a means for transparent transactions that preserve an owner's control over their data; allowing them to individually make decisions about what data they avail for sale, and the amount of compensation they would accept in trade.