Andrew Yang's Data Dividend Project is pushing Big Tech to pay users for data
It doesn't work. There isn't enough money in the data for anyone to care. Your entire data load might be worth $100 a <i>year</i>. The only reason it funds massive industries is cost-effective aggregation by dirt-cheap computer power.<p>I ran the numbers on Facebook a while back: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19462402" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19462402</a> It comes out that they're making roughly $17/yr in annual revenue per user. <i>Revenue</i>, not <i>profit</i>. Cross checking my numbers against some other sources, it may be now more like $40 or $50/yr. Profits, the thing they could actually afford to share with you, look like maybe $10/year. So, what, Facebook is going to cut me a check for $5 every year? Google sends me another 5-spot, and a few other companies send me a dollar or less? What problem does that solve?