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Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

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Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#31

Post by zentiggr »

bena wrote: post #7
Sodman wrote: post #2

I know it might sound like a minor ding, but the signup form doesn't allow apostrophes or accents in the name fields. Many people (myself included) have these in their legal names. I know this is US focused, but for an org that's all about data, this feels like a big oversight. For starters, _most_ data-hoarding websites allow these characters these days, so it's just one more obstacle when trying to match and verify…

This is another reason why I can't understand anyone who works in software of what is generally thought of as "technology" likes Yang. He does not understand. He likes to talk about "MATH". And while the numbers he uses may work out, I wonder how he acquires those numbers in the first place. Also, it often seems like he needs "ENGLISH" more than "MATH". Because "technology" is a meaningless word. A carburetor is tech…

> Then there's the railing against the large targeted-advertising companies (I guess that's what they have most in common). There's technically been a trade already. Our data for their services.

So for whatever service they offer, we give them data. And extra secondary income from every third party they pass that same data along to. And the risk of first party data breaches. And the risk of data breaches from any other party that gets access. And likely that same data getting scraped by aggregators just from being used.

The deal is by no means equal, and we the customer pay dearly.

I'm quite happy with the idea of making it expensive to retain any data that's not required by law or explicit operational need.

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#32

Post by duxup »

jschwartzi wrote: post #27
jerf wrote: post #26

It doesn't work. There isn't enough money in the data for anyone to care. Your entire data load might be worth $100 a year . The only reason it funds massive industries is cost-effective aggregation by dirt-cheap computer power. I ran the numbers on Facebook a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19462402 It comes out that they're making roughly $17/yr in annual revenue per user. Revenue , not profit . Cr…

The problem of people not knowing that privacy is valuable.

Or they don't care.

I like to think they don't know. I fear they don't care.

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#33

Post by devalgo »

kumarm wrote: post #10

Aren't companies already paying indirectly by providing free service? I am no fan of Facebook but I am using the service free of cost and in return company collects data for targeted advertising. Shouldn't this be more targeted at cable companies which collect a monthly fee and again sell your data? And may be forcing Big Tech to provide a paid alternative which doesn't use data collected?

>Aren't companies already paying indirectly by providing free service?

I think it's more about changing the frame. That Tech companies have been profiting off something you actually have always intrinsically owned, your personal data, and now is the time to retake that ownership.

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#34

Post by devalgo »

reverend_gonzo wrote: post #20
gnulinux wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is also making money off of you by showing you ads. It's a question of how much is enough. Facebook is charging nothing, sure, but what if the value they take from us (our data, our ad attention+clicks) is more valuable than the value they give us (a free social media)?

Well if what they gave us was more valuable than what they took, they wouldn’t be a very profitable company, would it?

Is anyone really going to weep for Zuck if he drops down to merely a millionaire instead of a billionaire? I certainly won't...

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#35

Post by lowmemcpu »

jerf wrote: post #26

It doesn't work. There isn't enough money in the data for anyone to care. Your entire data load might be worth $100 a year . The only reason it funds massive industries is cost-effective aggregation by dirt-cheap computer power. I ran the numbers on Facebook a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19462402 It comes out that they're making roughly $17/yr in annual revenue per user. Revenue , not profit . Cr…

What if it's combined with a data privacy law? Instead of accept-this-cookie-to-track-you ... You would need to opt-in to data privacy, or opt-in to data profit-sharing

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#37

Post by CobrastanJorji »

jerf wrote: post #26

It doesn't work. There isn't enough money in the data for anyone to care. Your entire data load might be worth $100 a year . The only reason it funds massive industries is cost-effective aggregation by dirt-cheap computer power. I ran the numbers on Facebook a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19462402 It comes out that they're making roughly $17/yr in annual revenue per user. Revenue , not profit . Cr…

If the only reason people collect all of that information about me is that it's cheap to do so, would making it a bit more expensive lead to nobody bothering to collect all my information? That sounds like a win as well.

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#38

Post by bilal4hmed »

gnulinux wrote: post #15
kumarm wrote: post #10

Aren't companies already paying indirectly by providing free service? I am no fan of Facebook but I am using the service free of cost and in return company collects data for targeted advertising. Shouldn't this be more targeted at cable companies which collect a monthly fee and again sell your data? And may be forcing Big Tech to provide a paid alternative which doesn't use data collected?

Facebook is also making money off of you by showing you ads. It's a question of how much is enough. Facebook is charging nothing, sure, but what if the value they take from us (our data, our ad attention+clicks) is more valuable than the value they give us (a free social media)?

my friend got a kidney transplant because they found a donor off facebook. Random stranger saw his plea and decided to help. Put a value on that

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#39

Post by mikedouglas »

devalgo wrote: post #33
kumarm wrote: post #10

Aren't companies already paying indirectly by providing free service? I am no fan of Facebook but I am using the service free of cost and in return company collects data for targeted advertising. Shouldn't this be more targeted at cable companies which collect a monthly fee and again sell your data? And may be forcing Big Tech to provide a paid alternative which doesn't use data collected?

>Aren't companies already paying indirectly by providing free service? I think it's more about changing the frame. That Tech companies have been profiting off something you actually have always intrinsically owned, your personal data, and now is the time to retake that ownership.

I think it's more complicated than that. It's not clear that users do intrinsically own this data. Without the product and the graph attached to the product, this data won't exist.

Re: Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data

#40

Post by ska »

jerf wrote: post #26

It doesn't work. There isn't enough money in the data for anyone to care. Your entire data load might be worth $100 a year . The only reason it funds massive industries is cost-effective aggregation by dirt-cheap computer power. I ran the numbers on Facebook a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19462402 It comes out that they're making roughly $17/yr in annual revenue per user. Revenue , not profit . Cr…

What if the point of it all isn't to make the consumer money, but to make companies less indiscriminate about gathering and storing data?
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