A recent report from MarketWatch claims that ahead of suspected antitrust investigations into Silicon Valley, tech giants may have to reveal to users how much their data is worth. User Data is the lifeblood of the Masters of the Universe, providing them with billions in profits based on targeted advertising.
A recent report from MarketWatch outlines the wide-reaching effects of the previously reported antitrust investigations into Silicon Valley tech giants such as Google and Facebook. According to MarketWatch, this could force Google and Facebook to reveal to users how much their data is worth. MarketWatch writes:
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department is preparing an antitrust investigation into Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The House Judiciary Committee is launching a bipartisan investigation into a small number of “dominant and unregulated platforms,” the committee said in a statement on Monday.
Some 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. If 2.5 quintillion pennies would be laid out flat, they would cover Earth five times, MarketWatch previously reported. Most of the data is harvested, stored and owned by large companies.
When Facebook, Instagram and Twitter sell this data to advertising companies — in the form of billions of dollars a year in collective revenue — users get nothing in return except the free use of the social-media platform.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) has introduced a bill that would require these tech firms to inform users of how much their data is worth:
Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, is drafting a bill that would make companies like Facebook and Google inform users about the value of their data. Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Warner, said the senator is aiming to introduce the bill by the end of June. In California — where stiff privacy rules take effect in 2020 — Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is calling for a “data dividend” that could make businesses pay consumers for the personal data they provide.
MarketWatch writes that the dark web could provide reference prices for the value of certain accounts:
However, Facebook log-ins can be sold for as little as $5.20 each on the “dark web” because they afford criminals access to personal data that could potentially provide a gateway to other accounts.
The credentials to a PayPal account with a relatively high balance can be sold on the dark web for $247, on average, according to a report by content-marketing agency Fractl, which analyzed all the fraud-related listings on three large “dark web” marketplaces.
The value of data to companies and hackers provides insight into the contradictions on how much that data is actually worth.
The market is grappling with putting a price tag on your data, but the courts have yet to decide the value of that information. “It’s definitely up in the air,” said privacy-law expert William McGeveran, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota.
Breitbart News will continue to report on government action against Google, Facebook, and the other Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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