{"id":25493,"date":"2016-01-29T00:12:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-29T00:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe6790072697"},"modified":"2016-01-29T00:12:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-29T00:12:44","slug":"bitcoin-and-the-future-of-user-monetizable-data-1454004764","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/markets\/bitcoin-and-the-future-of-user-monetizable-data-1454004764","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin and the Future of User Monetizable Data"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
<\/figure>\n

Imagine a world where personal data isn\u2019t just something that consumers give away \u2013 a world where terms of service agreements read more like shareholder agreements or term sheets, a world where your data makes you money.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week during a lecture on Bitcoin Engineering<\/a> at Stanford University, 21.co<\/a> CEO, Balaji S. Srinivasan, presented this exact world, one in which data is owned and monetized by the individual. He laid out an in-depth use case whereby Instagram could become the world\u2019s largest stock photography site \u2013 with each user making money.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Personal Data as an Asset Class<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2011, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with management consulting firm Bain & Company, published a report<\/a> targeted at executives in the telecommunications industry titled, \u201cPersonal Data: The Emergence of a New Asset Class.\u201d In the report, they described \u201cpersonal data as the new oil of the Internet and the new currency of the digital world.\u201d<\/p>\n

To substantiate their claim the authors present an estimate which states, \u201cby 2020 the global volume of digital data will increase more than 40-fold.\u201d They go on to say that, \u201cbeyond the sheer volume, data is becoming a new type of raw material that\u2019s on par with capital and labour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The implications of data as an asset are profound. When data is currency, cash is expendable. Success is measured by growth, not profits:<\/p>\n