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How Much Is Your Personal Data Worth?

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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.

How Much Is Your Personal Data Worth?

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.

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Technology

Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region

In this infographic, we map out internet usage by global region based on the latest data from the World Bank.

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Map showing internet usage by region.

Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region

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.

Digital technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming communications, business, health, education, and more. Yet, billions of people around the world are still offline, and digital advancement has been uneven.

Here, we map internet usage by region based on data from the World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023.

Digitalization Has Been Uneven

According to the World Bank, between 2018 and 2022, the world gained 1.5 billion new internet users.

In 2020 alone, the share of the global population using the internet increased by 6% (500 million people), marking the highest jump in history. India, in particular, has seen high rates of adoption. For example, in 2018, only 20% of Indians used the internet. By 2022, this percentage had grown to more than 50%.

RegionIndividuals using the internet (% of population)
East Asia & Pacific74
Europe & Central Asia87
Latin America & the Caribbean76
Middle East & North Africa77
North America92
South Asia42
Sub-Saharan Africa34

However, the progress of digitalization has been uneven both within and across countries.

In 2022, one-third of the global population remained offline, with parts of Asia and Africa still experiencing very low rates of internet usage. For instance, more than half of businesses in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal reportedly lack internet connection.

According to the World Bank’s report, when fast internet becomes available, the probability of an individual being employed increases by up to 13%, and total employment per firm increases by up to 22%. Moreover, firm exports nearly quadruple with the availability of fast internet. Across Africa, 3G coverage has been associated with a reduction in extreme poverty, with reductions of 10% seen in Senegal and 4.3% in Nigeria.

Curious to learn more about the internet? Check out this animated chart that shows the most popular web browsers since 1994.

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