Internet: the era of monopolies
“It’s very clear that when a company like facebook becomes the host of the digital public sphere, you have put a lot of power in the hands of a central actor.” – Ethan Zuckerman
monetization
In the future, your insurance company will know when you’re having sex
First, insurance companies gave us black boxes to put in our cars so they could track our driving, in exchange for discounts when we refrain from speeding. Now, they’re coming for our bodies.
Datacoup: Unlock the Value of Your Personal Data
Our mission to help people unlock the value of their personal data.
Almost every link in the economic chain has their hand in our collective data pocket. Data brokers in the US alone account for a $15bn industry, yet they have zero relationship with the consumers whose data they harvest and sell. They offer no discernible benefit back to the producers of this great data asset – you.
Giving Out Private Data for Discount in Insurance
Andrew Thomas’s life insurer knows exactly when he arrives at his local gym. The company is notified when he swipes his membership card, and 30 minutes later, it checks that he is still there, tracking his location through his smartphone.
What are you revealing online? Much more than you think
What can be guessed about you from your online behavior? Two computer privacy experts — economist Alessandro Acquisti and computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck — on how little we know about how much others know.
When Your Data Is Currency, What Does Your Privacy Cost?
Revelations about government surveillance have motivated a lot of reactions, some of which take into account that we gain something for some of the data we give up in our day-to-day lives. But the transaction is different when the government is involved.
How Wireless Carriers Are Monetizing Your Movements
Data that shows where people live, work, and play is being sold to businesses and city planners, as mobile operators seek new sources of revenue.
Cignifi raises funding to model credit scores for emerging market consumers
In the developed world, financial institutions use credit history in order to assess a person’s creditworthiness and subsequently issue them financial products at personalized terms. Unfortunately, that’s difficult to do in emerging markets, where mobile phones are more prevalent than traditional credit history.
Paying for Digital Privacy
One of the many unfortunate fallouts from the recent hacking scandals is the harsh realization that privacy in the age of the Internet is now essentially gone. Some may argue it was never there in the first place but regardless, it’s clear today that things you do online—whether in email, instant messaging, social media or web browsing—are but a few clicks away from being exposed for all the world to see.
Scary thought, isn’t it?
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