You can already sell your data though, and almost nobody bothers to do so. I don’t think it’s the privacy bit that’s stopping people, at least not at large, I think it’s time. $5 is a drop in the ocean to me, I’d just never bother giving you my data for that little, even if my data were safe.
The reason I willingly give my data to google by using gmail is that they give me an easy to use cloud mail with decent spamfilters. Or in other words, they are saving me time.
Maybe you could offer me something other than money? Like financial statistics on how I use my money? Sure, but those apps are already here, and people are willingly giving away their data without privacy in those.
So you see, it’s not that I don’t think you can’t convince people to give up their data, I absolutely do think that you can, I just don’t think petty cash and privacy are good motivators.
Maybe you have a bias because of your favorable financial situation (which is normal in here). For most people in the world, a reliable $10/month to cover their Netflix subscription or buy them a meal would be something they'd be very happy about.
Also I think the reason you willingly give data to Google for Gmail is that you don't have a choice. It's take-it-all, the spam filters and the data mining, or leave it and use ProtonMail, no in-between.
For most people in the world, a reliable $10/month to cover their Netflix subscription or buy them a meal would be something they'd be very happy about.
Your personal data has a cash value only because it can be used to influence future purchasing decisions. It's a simple equation, $x worth of personal data has a y% chance of generating sales worth >$x. It therefore stands to reason that the market value of the personal data of a person who doesn't have as much purchasing power will be less, and may not even cover the cost of stealing and then processing it.
You’re right, I’m rich enough that $5 a month is very little to me. Those $5 a month were something I grasped out of thin air though. If you look at Facebook advertising revenue, they are making less than $3 a year per account.
The reason I willingly give my data to google by using gmail is that they give me an easy to use cloud mail with decent spamfilters. Or in other words, they are saving me time.
Maybe you could offer me something other than money? Like financial statistics on how I use my money? Sure, but those apps are already here, and people are willingly giving away their data without privacy in those.
So you see, it’s not that I don’t think you can’t convince people to give up their data, I absolutely do think that you can, I just don’t think petty cash and privacy are good motivators.