With the increasing number of devices and apps able to track, record, and store data, data is no longer as scarce as it was just a decade ago. Both businesses and individuals generate a copious amount of data. On the other hand, businesses out there rely on that data to make their data analytics initiatives more relevant and accurate.
This means that there is a market for your data. We are talking about a natural supply and demand relationship, which brings us to personal data monetization. Did you know that you can sell your data? That’s what the term personal data monetization implies. If you find this concept attractive, you can find everything you need to know about monetizing your personal data below.
Personal data monetization made simple
Personal data monetization refers to the process of collecting, finding, or compiling data and selling it for a profit. Now, this data can be your personal data, your company data, or someone else’s data. You will notice that personal data is quite a broad term. It can include the business and individuals’ data. It can be structured or unstructured, come in silos, be live-streamed, or come ready for use on a thumb drive.
Data monetization provides companies with an opportunity to capitalize on data. Thanks to predictive and performative analytics, companies can extract value from various personal data assets and sell them on the market. Monetization of personal data is not a brand new thing. It has existed for quite some time now, and there are many data brokerages worldwide.
Data brokerage explained
The value of personal data is huge. It can help companies run competitive analyses, discover new market opportunities, cross-reference their KPIs with the industry average, and build data-driven company culture. Companies with the means to collect, store, and process data recognized the value in data and decided to start collecting it. These collections of data are called data brokerages.
Data brokerages can store data on individuals, companies, data streams by sensors, and social media data. Who are data brokers, then? Info broker definition states that a data broker is a person or a company that collects data from various sources. It begs the question of whether you can monetize your personal data on your own or you have to go through a data broker.
Monetizing data assets can be challenging
There are three main obstacles between you and a successful data monetization initiative — data discovery, data aggregation, and privacy requirements. These two are crucial if you want to use personal data and monetize it. Data discovery encompasses different processes.
Given that personal data is often spread across resources, you will need a tool to help you scour data repositories. It includes both repositories on local and cloud drives. This process aims to target structured and unstructured data sets and locate personal data elements in them.
Next, you need to build a personal data record. Now that you’ve located personal data elements in data sets, you need to consolidate them in a central personal data record. This is where a third challenge kicks in as you need to consolidate the data ensuring that you respect all relevant privacy-related requirements and regulatory obligations.
Unless you have experience with this unique process and have access to the right tools and professionals, monetizing data assets becomes quite challenging. This brings us again to data brokers.
Data brokers facilitate the monetization of personal data There are a couple of reasons why data brokers emerged as a go-to company when you need to monetize personal data or get access to various data sets. First of all, they have the knowledge, experience, and tools to process, clean, and structure data. After they are done with the data, it’s ready for use.
Secondly, they are well familiar with all the privacy-related requirements and regulatory obligations. They do everything according to the law to respect the privacy of individuals and companies. Brokers hand the data responsibly using a number of cybersecurity solutions to keep it safe and secure.
And lastly, data brokers often specialize in one or a couple of industries, markets, or sub-niches. It means that your data can reach relevant buyers. You can find a relevant broker to access actionable data if you are a buyer.
Personal data monetization is a huge thing nowadays. It helps companies capitalize on the data they’ve been collecting for years. However, there are a number of challenges to overcome to succeed at it, such as cleaning data and staying compliant. Thanks to data brokers, companies can overcome these challenges and monetize or get access to relevant data without having to worry about things like GDPR and other laws and regulations.