Consumers price their data at £2k – Companies pay 45p

Research from TotallyMoney.com claims consumers put a much higher monetary value on their personal data than the companies who are using it do.

The survey asked 1000 UK consumers how much they thought their personal data was worth, with the average coming in at £2031, however companies pay roughly 45p most of a consumers information. 60% of those who responded to the survey claim they would not share personal data with a company, which could be seen as a worrying statistic considering they probably already do so.

While the use of personal data by social networks has come under-fire in recent years, it would not have appeared to have penetrated through to all of the general public. The data implies there are still numerous individuals throughout the UK who do not understand the control which social media networks have over consumer data.

When breaking down the age demographics of those who participated in the survey, younger generations were less likely to close their social media accounts upon finding out about the control social media networks have over their data, but around 42% of the 55+ bracket would.

Although this would not generally be considered surprising, the ‘millennials’ bracket (25-34 year old), considered to be one of the most valuable demographics to marketers, were the ones who valued their information the least pricing it at £1773.

The research also states men considered their personal data more valuable than women did. Men would be willing to sell their email addresses, internet browsing history and location for £1112, £1056 and £951 respectively, while women said £859, £817 and £778.