Technology
How Much Is Your Personal Data Worth?
In a world where big data reigns supreme, sources of highly detailed and granular information can be very valuable to companies.
But what if that information is about you?
The Price of Personal Data
The following infographic from MBA@UNC looks at the business of data brokers, how they get their data, and what they sell it for.
It also puts a price tag on what users are willing to “pay” to not have their data collected.
It’s often said that if you are not paying for something, it should be known that you are the product.
In other words, companies may offer a free service to you in exchange for your personal information. Then, that data is used to sell targeted ads, or is re-sold for profit.
Buying and Selling Personal Data
Here are some examples of how companies may do this:
- Google and Facebook dominate the digital advertising market by using your data to allow marketers better targeting options. Did you know you can download a copy of your Facebook data, including every ad you ever clicked on?
- Loyalty cards also work because of personal data – they are free to the user, but help businesses collect data on you and your spending habits.
- Data from your mobile phones (such as geo-location) can be resold by your telecommunications company to other groups.
Once you hand your data over, it can be mined or re-sold, ending up in large databases of personal data.
Companies such as Axciom then curate data from multiple sources to come up with “more than 1,000 customer traits and basic information including location, age and household details”, as well as “more than 3,500 specific behavioral insights, such as propensity to make a purchase”.
Data brokers make money by selling this data compiled in comprehensive lists or databases to marketers, non-profits, and fundraisers. The data isn’t on you personally, but aggregated into some type of a typical buying profile such as “Affluent males interested in technology products”.
It then comes full circle, as your data is used by businesses or non-profits to target people just like you for future purchases.
Technology
Visualizing AI Patents by Country
See which countries have been granted the most AI patents each year, from 2012 to 2022.
Visualizing AI Patents by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
This infographic shows the number of AI-related patents granted each year from 2010 to 2022 (latest data available). These figures come from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), accessed via Stanford University’s 2024 AI Index Report.
From this data, we can see that China first overtook the U.S. in 2013. Since then, the country has seen enormous growth in the number of AI patents granted each year.
Year | China | EU and UK | U.S. | RoW | Global Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 307 | 137 | 984 | 571 | 1,999 |
2011 | 516 | 129 | 980 | 581 | 2,206 |
2012 | 926 | 112 | 950 | 660 | 2,648 |
2013 | 1,035 | 91 | 970 | 627 | 2,723 |
2014 | 1,278 | 97 | 1,078 | 667 | 3,120 |
2015 | 1,721 | 110 | 1,135 | 539 | 3,505 |
2016 | 1,621 | 128 | 1,298 | 714 | 3,761 |
2017 | 2,428 | 144 | 1,489 | 1,075 | 5,136 |
2018 | 4,741 | 155 | 1,674 | 1,574 | 8,144 |
2019 | 9,530 | 322 | 3,211 | 2,720 | 15,783 |
2020 | 13,071 | 406 | 5,441 | 4,455 | 23,373 |
2021 | 21,907 | 623 | 8,219 | 7,519 | 38,268 |
2022 | 35,315 | 1,173 | 12,077 | 13,699 | 62,264 |
In 2022, China was granted more patents than every other country combined.
While this suggests that the country is very active in researching the field of artificial intelligence, it doesn’t necessarily mean that China is the farthest in terms of capability.
Key Facts About AI Patents
According to CSET, AI patents relate to mathematical relationships and algorithms, which are considered abstract ideas under patent law. They can also have different meaning, depending on where they are filed.
In the U.S., AI patenting is concentrated amongst large companies including IBM, Microsoft, and Google. On the other hand, AI patenting in China is more distributed across government organizations, universities, and tech firms (e.g. Tencent).
In terms of focus area, China’s patents are typically related to computer vision, a field of AI that enables computers and systems to interpret visual data and inputs. Meanwhile America’s efforts are more evenly distributed across research fields.
Learn More About AI From Visual Capitalist
If you want to see more data visualizations on artificial intelligence, check out this graphic that shows which job departments will be impacted by AI the most.
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