
I put all my personal data on eBay - olifrost
http://olifro.st/blog/data-on-ebay/
======
nneonneo
Context: this fellow (Oli Frost) is something of a social media satirist,
having previously built LifeFaker
([http://lifefaker.com/](http://lifefaker.com/), a place to buy your way to
Instagram fame), and Flopstarter
([http://flopstarter.com/](http://flopstarter.com/), a Kickstarter clone for
terrible ideas).

I found the latest idea pretty funny - actually trying to monetize your data
instead of letting companies do it for you is kind of a cute turnabout. In any
case, please do view this project as an artistic endeavour - a work of satire.

~~~
X6S1x6Okd1st
There are a couple companies that are working in that space:

[https://datacoup.com/](https://datacoup.com/)

[https://datawallet.com/#protect](https://datawallet.com/#protect)

A more detailed reddit thread about them:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/8btjah/16_passiv...](https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/8btjah/16_passive_data_collection_apps_comparison_make/)

~~~
milbow
I am quite interested in the BAT (Basic Attention Token) project. Using the
Brave browser you can either block ads normally or choose to view Brave ads,
and the difference with Brave ads is that the viewer gets paid--- in tokens,
that is. They can then use the accumulated BAT tokens to send micropayments to
platforms and content that they like or peruse frequently. Pretty cool
incentive system. And Brave is a really nice browser, at least for mobile.

~~~
supreme_sublime
Yeah, but it begs the question, why would anyone want BAT tokens?

~~~
milbow
AFAIK, you can't even withdraw the tokens currently. The idea being, you use
the BAT tokens to send micropayments to your favorite sites, and then they can
do plenty of things--- re-use that BAT to advertise, cash it out via fiat
gateway, etc.

------
amasad
I just finished reading Radical Markets
([http://a.co/7cNafHl](http://a.co/7cNafHl)) and it's funny to see this HN
story because the last chapter was about "data labor" where the authors claim
that we're all working for FB/GOOG/etc to generate data to train the AIs that
makes profit for these companies. And that it's time for "data workers of the
world to unite" into a "data labor movement" so we can get paid for our work
(I found it kind of silly but worth thinking about). This assumes that a
single unit of data (say a person's personal data as in the OP) is worth
something on it's own.

The counter-argument to that, which is also presented in the book, can be
summarized as the resolution to Adam Smith's "diamond-water" paradox (roughly,
why is it that while water is more useful, in terms of survival, than
diamonds, diamonds command a higher price in the market). The answer is that
the price is determined by the marginal value of the last unit of good
available rather than the average value gained by its consumption. So while
the average value of personal data is high (you can build a service like
Google or Facebook) the single unit value (as in the OP) is low. I'm more
convinced by this side of the argument.

~~~
Matticus_Rex
> I found it kind of silly but worth thinking about

This was my reaction to 95% of the book. Until Radical Markets, I'd never read
a nonfiction book that I found so absurd and detached from reality and yet
provoked so much useful thought. I worry that others may not realize how
detached it is, and that the net effect may not be positive, but we'll see.

~~~
Nition
> A nonfiction book that I found so absurd and detached from reality and yet
> provoked so much useful thought.

This is a really interesting category. Makes me think about other books I've
read that are a bit like that. I'd probably put Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle
Maintenance in there. Maybe Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan as well.

~~~
ecocentrik
Gregory Clark candidly prefaces his "Farewell to Alms" with the admission that
the arguments he presents in the book will most likely be proven
"oversimplified, or merely false" but excuses his fallibility quoting Darwin:

"false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for every one
takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness: and when this is done,
one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the same
time opened.”

------
jacquesm
Selling your personal data as an individual is not going to work (yes, I
understand this is a joke posting).

If your data has to be re-imported into the various systems that normally
exchange consumer profiles (advertising platforms for instance) it will be a
net loss, besides that the chances of you hitting one of the properties is
nil. So without the association between your profile and your online presence
that data has little value on its own and as a single profile.

But in bulk, with a correct association between your profile, your recent
online queries, expenditures, location and so on it becomes valuable.

~~~
incompatible
With a current bid of £113.00, it's working fine.

~~~
LeoPanthera
The first time is always a special case. This reminds me of "the million
dollar homepage". It worked once. It will never work again.

~~~
Qwertie
Also the potato salad kickstarter[0]. Raised $55,000 to make a potato salad.
Lots of clones appeared and made about $10.

[0]
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zackdangerbrown/potato-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zackdangerbrown/potato-
salad)

------
irregular-john
Absolutely a serious question here: what is the big deal with companies e.g.
Facebook and Google using your data for profit?

These companies provide services that _you_ , a user of their platforms, want.
Providing those services is not free, and yet the prevailing sentiment across
the internet seems to be, "Wow, I can't believe FB was using my data to sell
me ads!"

~~~
JepZ
Just one example: Imagine a group of people where you are one of the few
people without a Facebook account. Then there is some group pressure to push
you into becoming a Facebook user and since they don't offer a paid service,
you either have to convince a lot of people to use some other medium, sell
your personal information or accept missing a lot of communication.

~~~
hk__2
> Just one example: Imagine a group of people where you are one of the few
> people without a Facebook account. Then there is some group pressure to push
> you into becoming a Facebook user and since they don't offer a paid service,
> you either have to convince a lot of people to use some other medium, sell
> your personal information or accept missing a lot of communication.

This is peer pressure and has nothing to do with the way Facebook monetize its
product.

~~~
kelnos
> _This is peer pressure and has nothing to do with the way Facebook monetize
> its product._

Sure it does. Facebook relies on the concept of peer pressure and people's
desire for a sense of belonging to continue to monetize its product. They know
that human connections aren't fungible, so they can gain adoption through
local monopolies.

~~~
hk__2
> Sure it does. Facebook relies on the concept of peer pressure and people's
> desire for a sense of belonging to continue to monetize its product.

Every single social network relies on this concept; the way it’s monetized is
independant of that.

~~~
intended
Sorry I kind of missed the independence part - in the main, no social network
has value unless it has most of the target audience on the network.

So monetization _results_ are entirely dependent on having those people
subscribed.

Thus all the emphasis on techniques to get people hooked/attracted/addicted
etc.

That’s sort of an operating cost/basic imperative to the social network.

So when you say it’s independent , what do you mean?

~~~
hk__2
> So when you say it’s independent , what do you mean?

We agree that "monetization results are entirely dependent on having those
people subscribed". What I’m saying is the _way_ Facebook does that
monetization (with ads) is independent of that. If Facebook were a
subscription-based service, it’d still rely on those "techniques to get people
hooked/attracted/addicted etc". So you can’t complain about Facebook’s ad-
based model by saying it encourages peer pressure because the latter would
still exist even if there weren’t ads.

------
simple10
There are quite a few new blockchain projects[1] aiming to directly remunerate
users for data. They're essentially trying to shift the middleman share of the
data market into the pockets of the actual data owners – the people.

Advertisers typically aren't interested in single person (personal) data. The
minimum size aggregate audience is 1M people to have any advertising value.

[1] [https://datum.org/](https://datum.org/)
[https://wibson.org/](https://wibson.org/)
[https://datawallet.com/](https://datawallet.com/)

------
tenryuu
> Loads more, like who I vote for, my boss’s name, and where all my family
> live.

So their selling other people's data too?

~~~
jacquesm
Every time someone on FB shares a picture with other people in it they are
doing just that.

~~~
dymk
TIL when I tag a friend on Facebook I'm also tagging their political beliefs,
work history, favorite food, and venereal disease status.

~~~
jacquesm
> So their selling other people's data too?

I was answering that particular question. Either you didn't get it or you
pretended to not get it, hard to tell the difference from here.

------
sunsetwifi
Somewhat related:
[https://marketplace.streamr.com/](https://marketplace.streamr.com/)

Streamr is a marketplace to sell your data streams (vs static data in this
case).

------
mcdowall
Jaron Lainer - Who Owns the Future is a great read on the topic of owning and
monetising ones data.

------
jmcomets
> Condition: Used

Very nice touch.

------
verelo
> "Permission to steal my identity and open a sweat shop."

What if I just do one of those things? This guy needs a lawyer.

~~~
jacquesm
No, then _you_ will need a lawyer.

------
dznodes
If you tried to sell your on ATM number and PIN or SSN# and Credit Card
Credentials, your Ebay account would be shut down in less than 24hrs. You
would be guilty of "identity theft" for not adequately protecting your own
identity. (i.e. credit worthiness)

------
Zekio
Didn't know Ebay suddenly allowed digital goods again

~~~
Keverw
He could probably be putting it on a CD, DVD or USB drive and mailing it out.
But looks like only shipping to the UK... Says "May not post to United States"
for me.

~~~
Haegin
He's supplying it on a one time USB drive and only offering collection in
person from London, UK.

------
squarefoot
This is going to get interesting only when someone offers a good sample of
blood with no strings attached (that is, you're free to clone me or even use
my DNA to plant evidence for a crime). I admit an extremely generous offer
would make it tempting to me.

------
lifthrasiir
That reminds me of a (satirical) personal data exchange website [1] which
criticized a lot of personal data exposure incidents in Korea. Most amusingly,
the website, which had absolutely no actual personal data or functions (and
clearly indicated it's a joke in the first click), was blocked by the South
Korean government.

[1] [http://trademyinfo.libsora.so/](http://trademyinfo.libsora.so/) (in
Korean)

[2] [https://libsora.so/posts/trade-my-info-warning-or-
kr/](https://libsora.so/posts/trade-my-info-warning-or-kr/) (in Korean)

------
spodek
Whoever wants it already has it.

------
zceee12
Hey @olifrost, presumably this contains personally identifiable information of
several individuals connected to you - are you seeking their individual
consent too?

~~~
choward
Why should he? I don't have a Facebook account and yet people post pictures of
me without my consent.

------
paulpauper
damn..it's starting to hockeystick. and these are pounds so it's like $400
now. Reminds me of the the million dollar homepage and other gimmicks that get
a lot of money and attention initially and then fail when replicated.

------
tsbertalan
A comic that I assume was inspired by this stunt: [https://www.smbc-
comics.com/comic/free-love](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/free-love)

------
dddddaviddddd
This type of data typically had low individual and high collective value.

------
kizer
The idea of selling information you choose directly to advertisers,
intentionally, is much healthier than Facebook / Google etc spending tons of
time inferring shit about you.

------
stefek99
Yes: [http://jenniferlynmorone.com/](http://jenniferlynmorone.com/)

------
mortdeus
I actually think this is going to be the next big thing. Some sort of data
broker app that helps users market their own data for a commission. Like an
app that can look at the data and basically say, "okay, so judging by your
data, we think you are a big fan of Nike products? Is this something you would
like us to market on your behalf and if so would you like to make this data
more valuable to advertisers (and yourself) by filling out a survey that
provides a better understanding of how important this product is to you?

~~~
nneonneo
OK but why wouldn't you cut out the user as a middleman, and just market to
the user directly? If I knew you were a fan of Nike, I could just sell that to
Nike directly instead of asking you to in a roundabout fashion.

As many people have observed, the current digital economy really already
facilitates you monetizing your data, by allowing you to have access to
innumerable resources for free. Those resources don't cost zero to operate,
but you pay for them with your data.

------
foolinaround
A good reference in this context would be www.datacoup.com, which allows one
to monetize their data in a safe manner.

------
nathancahill
Spin off the classic joke: Identity theft? I've had my identity on eBay for a
year and no one wants it!

------
z3t4
This is an interesting thought experience. What is all this data actually
worth ? How can you monetize it ?

------
aw3c2
*Facebook data

------
slim
It's considered an infringement of GDPR. eBay should take it down

~~~
linker3000
How do you believe this is infringing the GDPR?

IANAL, but...

Ebay are processing the data as instructed by the data subject (Art 6. 1a) for
the fulfillment of a contract to sell the data (Art 6. 2b).

[https://gdpr-info.eu/art-6-gdpr/](https://gdpr-info.eu/art-6-gdpr/)

------
fuadbest
I want oreo update s7 adge for free please help me

------
megamindbrian2
I am planning on doing this with my medical record.

~~~
bredren
Why stop there? Let's see someone auction their whole genome sequence.

~~~
cjbprime
There are already hundreds of people sharing their whole genome sequence
publicly.

[http://www.personalgenomes.org/](http://www.personalgenomes.org/)

------
svilen_dobrev
we're being comoditized. Either as becoming end layer in a tech stack, or a
supplier to an aggregator.. all the same.

------
borlum
@olifro do you ship internationally?

------
djhaskin987
Over $100 so far with five days left

------
HeavyStorm
Raw data? No value in that.

------
lotusko
behind this is the question of morality,I think.

------
scary
It's scary how much information we actually have out there without knowing.

------
hsnewman
Seems to be self aggrandizement/someone who wants to market themselves...I'll
just move on.

~~~
wybiral
Aside from the fact that it's a joke... Isn't that what social media is for in
the first place?

------
anonnel
Let’s normalize our exploitation with humor.

~~~
Chilinot
I wouldn't say it's normalizing the exploitation. It's putting it in
perspective. My first thought when I read this post was "Why would you do
that? That seems really stupid!", but then remebered, this is what we are
already doing essentially. Only on a larger scale, and hidden from view.

~~~
anonnel
And to think - if you didn’t have such a good memory, metaphors like this
would be lost on you!

------
yeukhon
How do I know you are not keeping the money to yourself? Also data without
government official id is not convincing enough.

------
11thEarlOfMar
Staying with the 'I'm just making a point' aspect, what portion of the
proceeds are you sharing with your family for disclosing their addresses? Or
have they all signed waivers?

