

Ask HN: What's the best way to crowd source data? - pattle

I&#x27;m starting work on a side project but in order to get it off the ground I need to gather quite a bit of data.  I&#x27;m going to crowd source it and was wondering if anyone has any advice on the best way to go about it?  Also I don&#x27;t know how willing people will be to help, do you normally have to give some kind of incentive?<p>I&#x27;m not after that much data from each person just 8 to 10 quick questions however what I&#x27;m asking for is quite personal e.g (job description, age, salary etc) so I guess I need to make sure people can submit data 100% anonymously.<p>Any help would be appreciated.
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hackerjam
yes, most definitely, you have to provide an incentive, best described as a
quid pro quo: what's in it for me.

you scratch my back and i'll scratch your's.

if you are planning to build an app on the back of your users -- stacks and/or
sharing economy type exploitation -- forget it. in a post edward snowden
world, that gig is up.

as for assuring 100% anonymity, when you get that figured out, please report
back to hn, we'll all be dying to know how you figured that one out.

however, if you decide to go this route and not purchase your data like
everyone else these days, you will need to be upfront as to why you need
personal info, how (what purpose) you're going to use it, and last but not
least, how your respondants are going to personally benefit by giving up said
data.

