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Banking On Your Personal Online Data
snydeq writes "While privacy groups are working to lock away your personal data, a better — or perhaps supplementary — option may be to let you sell it for what it's really worth. 'Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Google Drive, or Pinterest, the truth is the product is you — all that data about you used to target ads and sales pitches. It's hardly a new business model — it's how trade publications have made their money for decades — but in the online world all that information is easily stolen, traded, and spread. ... If the data has value — and we know it does — its creators (you and me) should be paid for it. And if we take over the selling of our data, all those companies using it now have to respect us and abide by our standards.'"
Well, to begin, I'm just your average guy. But unlike your average guy, I once had everything anyone could ever want: a gorgeous wife, a beautiful two-story house, an adorable seven year old daughter, a stable job, and a nice salary. Basically, I was living the American dream. None of my needs or wants were left unfulfilled. The family always got along, and everything was perfect.
Until one day, that is. Following one of my routine doctor appointments, my doctor informed me that I had lung cancer and that I only had a few years to live at most. As you can imagine, I was shocked. Not just shocked; I could see all of my hopes and dreams being shattered right before my very eyes. Still, my doctor gave me hope by telling me that there was a chance, however slim, that Chemotherapy and various other things could help me. After speaking with my wife, I decided to receive the treatments.
All was not lost. I still had a perfect family that I could rely on and get emotional support from. I still had hope for the future. I'm a firm believer that you should make the best of things rather than wallow in depression. I had to press on: not just for my sake, but for the sake of my loved ones. But my strong resolve was soon shattered.
The family I thought I could count on betrayed me. My wife, whom I loved deeply, filed for a divorce. She said that she could not handle the emotional trauma of being with someone who had cancer. She apologized profusely, but no matter what I said, I could not change her mind. I screamed, I cried, and I begged her to rethink her decision, but it was all to no avail.
In my madness, I made all kinds of accusations. I said that she was cheating on me, that she never loved me, that she just married me for my money, and various other things. I soon learned, however, that a few of those were more than just baseless accusations. I began stalking her, going through all of her personal possessions, and trying uncover any secrets she may have been keeping. What I discovered horrified me: she had been cheating on me with another man for the past year. She must have been waiting for an opportune time to abandon me for this other man.
When confronted about her betrayal, she screamed at me, told me it was none of my business, told me that I was always a worthless husband, and told me that I was an abusive man. I soon discovered that there was absolutely nothing that I could do. My marriage was in shambles, and by this point, I was on the brink of suicide. The only thing keeping me going was my devotion to my precious daughter.
It wasn't long before I received news from my insurance company that they were getting rid of my coverage. They gave me multitudes of vague and bogus reasons, but anyone could figure out their true reason: they did not want to waste money on a dying man. Naturally, I planned to fight this with every fiber of my being, but I knew it would be a long, drawn out process.
In the span of a year, I went from a very happy man who had everything he wanted to a miserable shell of what I once was. I couldn't take it anymore. Despite the fact that I wanted to remain in this world for the sake of my daughter, I tried committing suicide four times. All four attempts failed. I needed something to take my misery, regret, and anger out on. First I began verbally abusing my daughter. It wasn't long before I began physically abusing her. Sometimes I did it with my bare hands, and other times I used various objects. Beating my daughter soon became my only pleasure. My life had spiraled out of control into a den of anguish, uncertainty, and madness.
That's when it happened: I found MyCleanPC. I downloaded it, scanned my computer, and had it fix all of my problems. MyCleanPC is outstanding! My computer is running faster than ever!
My wife's response? "MyCleanPC came through with flying colours where no one else could!"
My daughter was absolutely overjo
And if we take over the selling of our data, all those companies using it now have to respect us and abide by our standards.
Uh, no they don't. This isn't magicalhippieland.
Nearly four months ago, I noticed that my internet connection was very sluggish. Eventually getting fed up with it, I began to seek out software that would speed up the gigabits in my router. After an hour of searching, I found what at first appeared to be a very promising piece of software. Not only did it claim it would speed up my internet connection, but that it would overclock my power supply, speed up my gigabits, and remove any viruses from my computer! "This is a fantastic opportunity that I simply can't pass up," I thought. I immediately downloaded the software and began the installation, all the while laughing like a small child. I was highly anticipating a future where the speed of my internet connection would leave everyone else's in the dust.
I was horribly, horribly naive. Immediately upon the completion of the software's installation, various messages popped up on my screen about how I needed to buy software to remove a virus that I wasn't aware I had from a software company I'd never once heard of. The strange software also blocked me from doing anything except buying the software it was advertising. Being that I was a computer whiz (I had taken a computer essentials class in high school that taught me how to use Microsoft Office, and was quite adept at accessing my Facebook account), I was immediately able to conclude that the software I'd downloaded was, in fact, a virus, and that it was slowing down my gigabits at an exponential rate. "I can't let this insanity proceed any further," I thought.
As I was often called a computer genius, I was confident at the time that I could get rid of the virus with my own two hands. I tried numerous things: restarting the computer, pressing random keys on the keyboard, throwing the mouse across the room, and even flipping an orange switch on the back of the tower and turning the computer back on. My efforts were all in vain; the virus persisted, and my gigabits were running slower than ever! "This cannot be! What is this!? I've never once seen such a vicious virus in my entire life!" I was dumbfounded that I, a computer genius, was unable to remove the virus using the methods I described. Upon coming to terms with my failure, I decided to take my computer to a PC repair shop for repair.
I drove to a nearby computer repair shop and entered the building with my computer in hand. The inside of the building was quite large, neat, and organized, and the employees all seemed very kind and knowledgeable. They laughed upon hearing my embarrassing story, and told me that they saw this kind of thing on a daily basis. They then accepted the job, and told me that in the worst case, it'd be fixed in three days from now. I left with a smile, and felt confident in my decision to leave the computer repairs to the experts.
A week later, they still hadn't called back. Visibly angry, I tried calling them countless times, but not a single time did they answer the phone. Their negligence and irresponsibility infuriated me, and sent me into a state of insanity that caused me to punch a gigantic hole in the wall. Being that I would require my computer for work soon, I decided to head over to the computer repair shop to find out exactly what the problem was.
Upon entering the building, I was shocked by the state of its interior; it looked as if a tornado had tore through the entire building! Countless broken computers were scattered all about the floor, desks were flipped over, the walls had holes in them, there was a puddle of blood on the floor, and worst of all, I saw that my computer was sitting in the middle of the room laying on its side! Absolutely unforgivable! I soon noticed one of the employees sitting behind one of the tipped over desks (the one that had previously had the cash register on top of it); he was shaking uncontrollably and sobbing. Despite being furious about my computer being tipped over, seeing him in that state still managed to make me less unforgiving. I decided to ask him what happened.
A few moments passed where the entire r
...its creators ... should be paid for it.
So you think you should pay for data created by businesses (eg, football scores, integrated circuit pinouts, instruction sets, financial statements)? You believe in copyright on information and data rather than just on creative expression?
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
sounds like those pre dotcom bubble firms who allegedly would pay you to surf the web. Of course it didn't work then and it won't work now.
When you sign up for these services, you're already tendering your personal information. The agreement is "you let me use this service, and I'll provide you with X information." Yes, it isn't an explicit agreement, but we all know how this works now.
Like any commodity, your price is set by demand. Saying you want to sell your information for cash is fine, but when the price is already set by the fact there are millions of others signing up to the service for free then your bargaining posture is pretty weak.
About six months ago, I was overexerting myself trying to get rid of a terrible virus on a client's PC (I own a PC repair shop and have been fixing computers for over 10 years). Given my level of expertise, I thought I'd be able to get rid of it fairly quickly and without hassle, but as was made evident by my colossal failure, I was horribly, horribly wrong.
I couldn't remove the virus no matter what method I used. I tried all the latest anti-virus software and all the usual tricks, but it was all in vain. Failure after failure, my life was slowly being sucked away as I spent more and more of my time trying to get rid of this otherworldly virus.
Frustrated and stressed by my own failure, I began distancing myself from my wife and children. After a few days, I began verbally abusing them, and it eventually escalated into physical abuse. I was slowly losing what remaining sanity I had left. If this had continued for much longer, it is highly probable that I would have committed suicide. A mere shell of what I once was, I barricaded myself in my bedroom and cried myself to sleep for days on end.
That's when it happened: I found MyCleanPC! I installed MyCleanPC right on the client's PC, ran a scan, and it immediately got rid of all the viruses without a single problem. MyCleanPC accomplished in record time what I was unable to accomplish after a full week. Wow! Such a thing!
MyCleanPC is outstanding! My client's computer is running faster than ever! I highly recommend you install MyCleanPC right this minuteness, run a scan, and then boost your PC speed in record time! MyCleanPC came through with flying colours where no one else could!
My client's response? "MyCleanPC totally cleaned up my system, and increased my speed!" All the PC repair professionals are using MyCleanPC to solve all of their problems. This should be reason enough for you to switch to MyCleanPC! It'll speed up your computer, rid it of all viruses, and you'll be able to work productively again! Wow!
Even if you're not having any obvious computer problems, you could still be in danger. That's why I very highly recommend that you still use MyCleanPC. After all, it will boost your PC & internet speed to levels you never would think are possible!
MyCleanPC: For a Cleaner, Safer PC.
-----------
A few weeks ago, I foolishly ran a strange executable file that one of my acquaintances sent me by email. As someone who doesn't know much about computers, at the time, I thought nothing of it. "Why would my acquaintance want to hurt me?" Following this line of thought, I ran the file without question.
How naive I was. Despite having what was supposedly the best anti-virus software out right then, a virus took over my computer and held it hostage. It was pretending to be a warning from Windows telling me to buy some strange anti-virus software I'd never heard of from a company I'd never heard of to remove the virus.
This immediately set alarm bells off in my head. "How could this happen? My anti-virus is supposed to be second to none!" Faced with this harsh reality, I decided to take it to a PC repair shop for repair. They gladly accepted the job, told me it'd be fixed in a few days, and sent me off with a smile.
A few days later, they called me and told me to come pick up my computer. At the time, I noticed that they sounded like whimpering animals, but I concluded that it must just be stress from work. When I arrived, they, with tears in their eyes, told me that the virus was so awful and merciless that they were unable to remove it. "Ah," I thought. "That must be why they sounded so frustrated and pathet
But we are being paid for it. With google's services, for instance. Our product is our information and I think Google pays us handsomely for it with their search engine alone.
Have we learned nothing from the evil corporate empires that feed us our culture in click-wrapped agreements? Don't sell your personal data... license it! And sue the bastards to death if they share it with anyone else!
What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!
"Our social space online has moved from the public square to the shopping mall.
From the public sphere where we can fight for our rights and influence the laws and bylaws that govern our conduct, where we can engage in civil disobedience when we oppose the rules, to the private sphere, where we have no rights, and can be expelled and excluded at the pleasure of the private owners of the platforms.
Today, if somebody is hosting content that somebody else objects to, that content is not likely to be hosted by a server they control, but rather by a commercial social platform. Such content can be removed with no due process, with no recognition of the rights and liberties of both parties, simply the unilaterally imposed rules of the platform operator.
In the case that the content is controversial, and the objecting party is powerful, the operator has strong incentive to remove it, and very little incentive to put themselves at risk to keep the content online.
The powerful interest that wish to control content online no longer need coersive laws to do so, they simply need co-operation from the platform owners. Such co-operation is happily provided by most operators, and is often even a precondition of their financing.
Commercialization has made online rights irrelevant
The world where “anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity” can not exist on Facebook, and can not be built by capital."
- @dmytri
If not...what use is it in this world.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
Makes as much sense as your post...
What are the two factors that make telephone companies stupid, evil and bureaucratic? Billing and regulation. With Facebook, Gmail, Flickr, etc., we've lucked into a world with no billing (advertising pays), and not too much regulation.
snydeq's proposal seems to open the way to a world where the money flow takes on a life of its own (huge departments keeping track of who gets what), with an inevitable regulatory tidal wave sweeping in soon after the first agreement is signed.
What would be scary is how little I may be valued. I'm not buying a car soon, I can't drink alcohol, and I am socially inept with zero spending on Cialis. It seems like the MLB should stop me watching the World Series for free.
This is the bloody greatest advertising spam comment I've seen, ever.
10/10, would read again.
Lets fuck up this SEO troll's game? If another slashdotters respond back to this troll with the following cut and pasted back all his potential customers will see 2 women eating shit and vomiting in each other's mouths. You all have my permission to cute and paste this. Obviously not work safe ...
MyCleanPC is a shitty product! There is no crappier product than MyCleanPC.
In actuality this will fuck up the SEO from this scam artist who wrote MYCleanPC.com and counters his slimy spamming advertising MyCleanPC .
If everyone here on slashdot points to other disgusting sites for MyCleanPC, then people searching for malware virus removal with MyCleanPC will have an awful surprise! :-)
If goatse was still around I would have used that sigh.
http://saveie6.com/
Lets fuck up this SEO troll's game? If another slashdotters respond back to this troll with the following cut and pasted back all his potential customers will see 2 women eating shit and vomiting in each other's mouths. You all have my permission to cute and paste this. Obviously not work safe ...
MyCleanPC is a shitty product! There is no crappier product than MyCleanPC.
In actuality this will fuck up the SEO from this scam artist who wrote MYCleanPC.com and counters his slimy spamming advertising MyCleanPC .
If everyone here on slashdot points to other disgusting sites for MyCleanPC, then people searching for malware virus removal with MyCleanPC will have an awful surprise! :-)
If goatse was still around I would have used that sigh.
http://saveie6.com/
Just because you enter into an implicit agreement, doesn't mean you are getting a fair deal.
What's 'your' data worth in the markets of the intertubes? How do I know I shouldn't have held out for more than access to so-called free services offered?
'nuff said.
Lets fuck up this SEO troll's game? If another slashdotters respond back to this troll with the following cut and pasted back all his potential customers will see 2 women eating shit and vomiting in each other's mouths. You all have my permission to cute and paste this. Obviously not work safe ...
MyCleanPC is a shitty product! There is no crappier product than MyCleanPC.
In actuality this will fuck up the SEO from this scam artist who wrote MYCleanPC.com and counters his slimy spamming advertising MyCleanPC .
If everyone here on slashdot points to other disgusting sites for MyCleanPC, then people searching for malware virus removal with MyCleanPC will have an awful surprise! :-)
If goatse was still around I would have used that sigh.
http://saveie6.com/
goatse is now at goatse.info, just FYI
C|N>K
The guy's intention is to get as many mention of "mcpc" as possible to push it in front of SEO listing
Do not repeat that "mcpc" !!
Do not fall for his game !!!
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Here's some even worse stuff... just in case you need ammo
http://ftw.generation.no/?n=627
http://www.zentastic.com/videos/bmevideo-trailer.wmv
http://www.zentastic.com/videos/bmevideo-trailer-2.wmv
http://www.zentastic.com/videos/bmevideo-3.wmv
(genital dissection vids, prolapseing, gay group, etc.)
Because I get *sick and tired* of forum spammers...
C|N>K
Much of the content online is basically underwritten by display ad networks. Without serving ads these sites would need to charge directly to pay their authors and hosting fees.
And if we take over the selling of our data, all those companies using it now have to respect us and abide by our standards.
That's adorable. You think corporations respect you. Nothing could be further from the truth. You are a means to an end, nothing more. Specifically, money. They'll do anything for money, and since they have way more of it than you, it's you that will be going to them for everything, not the other way around. You want that cell phone? Surrender your personal data. Car? Personal data, please. Internet access? Groceries? Housing? Furniture?
Capitalism without restraint leads to depotism.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
The saddest part about your personal information--your privacy--being bought and sold by third parties is that it is not, actually, worth very much. The way corporations like Google or Facebook make it worthwhile is they sell TENS OF MILLIONS of potential customers at a time. Even if one did take control of the market for their own personal info how much do you think you could make? A few cents a transaction maybe? A couple of bucks tops if you're in a really coveted demographic? The true amount is probably a fraction of a fraction of cent. Worth it?
You forgot one thing...
Installing MyCleanPC, and the subsequent ass-raping your PC will receive, is vastly more preferable than the mental-ass-raping you will receive by watching 2 girls 1 cup.
Thank you very much. I had almost forgotten about that travesty on the net. Thanks for freshening up those wounds for me.
I swear that MyCleanPC is a piece of shit, MyCleanPC smells so bad that even shit smells better.
Nothing but MyCleanPC can claim the first prize for the most lousiest piece of crap ever created.
I repeat, MyCleanPC is a piece of crap !!!
And I am not kidding !!
I swear that MyCleanPC is a piece of shit, MyCleanPC smells so bad that even shit smells better.
Nothing but MyCleanPC can claim the first prize for the most lousiest piece of crap ever created.
I repeat, MyCleanPC is a piece of crap !!!
And I am not kidding !!
MyCleanPC is really really a lousy fucking piece of crap !!
I swear that MyCleanPC is a piece of shit, MyCleanPC smells so bad that even shit smells better.
Nothing but MyCleanPC can claim the first prize for the most lousiest piece of crap ever created.
I repeat, MyCleanPC is a piece of crap !!!
And I am not kidding !!
Take Facebook for example, we struck a bargain for their services, they then broke that bargain and reduced the privacy level. You get committed to a service like FB, and there is a penalty to you for leaving it. All that data, all those contacts were trusted with FB.
So when FB screw you over, you have to bend over and take it.
So it's not like a "service for loss of privacy" contract, it's more a scam-artist approach.
I'll happily share anything and everything advertisers want to know about me if I could ever just get ads that were relevant to me. As an example, Hulu gave me ads for diapers, Charter Cable Internet, and Gucci Cologne in the last show I watched. Charter isn't in my area, I hate kids (and I'm gay so the odds of an accidental one are near zero), and I buy unscented everything. Facebook's targeted ads are just as awful. I mean, its like no one wants my money. And with no wife or kids and my own business I have plenty of it to spend.
First, companies should not be allowed to distributed, publish, mine or otherwise use their customer's personal data for purposes other than what is required to provide the contracted services.
Second, customers should pay for the contracted services.
What made everything foobar is that everyone wants something for nothing, and companies felt at liberty to ignore all sense of responsible behavior as a result. This is why there are so many sleezy products out there that either try to steal your information, or find ways to trick you into paying for something that is "free" (think "micro-payments" and all the ways in which free/low-cost mobile apps try to bleed you with hidden payments).
If customers would grow up and realize that they have to pay for services and companies could be held to reasonable codes of conduct, the world would be so much better off.
Just a note, it looks like the links in the comments all have the rel="nofollow" attribute added, and therefore carry no weight in Google, and probably other search engines so unfortunately people searching for MyCleanPC won't get a nasty surprise!
You're already being paid for your personal information.
You're being paid with access to Farmville, or other Facebook features, or whatever.
I thought this was obvious to everyone.
Dude that can't be real! Holy crap!
Do not give the trolls any idea.
http://saveie6.com/
I would rather watch 2 girls 1 cup than to have my holy computer ever subjected to such torture to that malware. I would have to rewipe it or do a restore and carefully go through the registry.
http://saveie6.com/
1) The neighbour stups her already when I'm in the office, so there's a market. I should be compensated in money terms.
2) There's that paedophile I see every day in the park, so there's a market. It's inevitable he'll grab my 7 year old anyway, I should be compensated in money terms.
3) The rich old woman down the street really needs a kidney. She might just get lucky on the waiting list, so I want to get in on the action now. She'll pay anything!
4) I really need the money! Honest!
But targeted ads mean you are seeking some answer to which they can suggest a product. By passively watching the TV you are only saying that you are not able to do anything better with your time. Remember, at the very least, Hulu is being paid to show those products at a specific time. Usually because a majority demographic is watching at that time. That you do not have the problems of child-support and monogamy makes you a minority demographic. Lastly, can you spend your money on a round-the-world cruise? Being self-employed means travel and extended holidays are inconvenient recreations.
Actually yes it is real. There is worse stuf than goatse and tubgirl out there. Never mind the trolls, I say (I can deal with that) its the spammers that *really* annoy me tho.... those links are great for google-bombs and totally fuckup their results. Especially if you can redirect their paypal button to one of them..
C|N>K
Won't work. Data wants to be free.
I don't think the average fat, stupid American can handle the fact that they are not worth the thousands they think they are, online.
Or worse, a new breed of hipster emerges for no other purpose than the brag about how high their fake online value is.
90% of the net can disappear tomorrow (well, the non-porn side) and no one would miss it.
You get paid for it by getting those services for free. When is the last time you gave Facebook or Google money?
Then sue anyone reporting bad credit history about you. Profit!!!
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Nobody from 'MyCleanPC' is posting this crap, it's just a stupid meme. So posting links to disgusting shit in an attempt to 'fight it' just encourages it.
It's basically just the new version of Frost Piss. Sad you lot haven't gotten that by now...
You don't SELL your personal information. You LICENSE it and charge for yearly updates.
Plus it comes with DRM that requires you to be logged into my server while you use it.
And the whole process is patented.
FTA: "...And if we take over the selling of our data, all those companies using it now have to respect us and abide by our standards.'"
Give me an R! GIVE ME AN O! GIVE ME AN F! GIVE ME AN L!
ROFL!!!!!!!!!
Of course, you're *absolutely*, 100%, would-stake-your-life-on-it confident that this *isn't* a Joe job or- far more likely IMHO- just a troll?
And you're *entirely* confident that "FloppyCockyJohnson" (what a PR-friendly name *cough*) is a plausible legitimate spammer, despite being happy to waste her time posting spam links that do nothing, due to the fact that Slashdot adds a nofollow to them all?
Of course, when you say that "the SEO is paying him to link to his site" you know this for a *fact*...?
Because only an arrogant and self-righteous but deluded idiot on a feelgood crusade would clutter Slashdot up with replies that are way more annoying and disruptive than the original offtopic post unless they knew for sure- in the face of commonsense evidence- that the OP was a genuine spammer.
Normally I don't waste time feeding the trolls, nor pandering to the idiots that feed them by replying. I quickly mod the lot of you down en masse if I have points, then skip the lot. However, your account pops up like clockwork to respond to virtually every instance of this pretend spam.
Bottom line is that you- and your taken-it-upon-youself crusade to take "revenge" on this troll masquerading as a spammer are way more disruptive than the original troll itself.
I have more respect for the original troll than you. At least they're achieving what they set out to achieve. You? You're a useful idiot.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
for each spam post here, i will add a 2g1c post with cmpc links on a real website.