Sep 10
3
Sell Your Data for Bargains
While many are worried about the amount of private data that’s online as large sites like Facebook take flak for distributing that data, a few startups are taking a different approach.
The data that users provide about themselves is worth money, as anyone who’s followed the debate over Facebook’s use of user data on their social networking site.
Given the potential value in this information, some startups are wondering why a more win-win approach hasn’t been taken, giving users incentive to share. Mint.com, for example, offers discounts from cable companies and banks to users who reveal personal financial data to the budgeting tips website. Clothing retailer Bluefly is doing something similar, using customer data to offer deals on related items.
Even apps like Foursquare are doing this with the location-based giants offering location-specific coupons and other incentives in return for users telling the apps where they are on the map.
These types of tradeoffs for user data are becoming more and more common as businesses realize that users are willing to give up more if they see an inventive to do so. Many in the industry see this as removing the privacy debate altogether. Since users can voluntarily give up or keep their private data, retailers who take advantage of data given to them are not violating anyone’s privacy nor are they being perceived as doing so.
It appears that the future of Web interactions with consumers will be based more and more on voluntary transparency and willingness to trade information and knowledge.
