Sir Vince Cable said tech giants should pay Brits for their personal data
Mr Cable says that letting people choose who they sold their details to would break up the monopoly of tech companies
BRITS should be paid for their personal data by tech giants who harvest and sell the info to make money, according to Sir Vince Cable.
The Lib Dem chief said data was the “new oil” and the “growth industry of this century”.
And he said it was “astounding” people were giving away something so valuable free of charge.
The former Coalition Business Secretary said that “empowering” people to choose who they sell the information to – about shopping habits or their lifestyle – would break the “monopoly” of tech giants.
He added there was a case for Facebook to have to give up its Instagram and WhatsApp companies – and for forcing Google to ditch its YouTube video sharing service to boost competition.
In a speech Sir Vince said: “We should seriously consider the possibility of compensating people – or society more broadly – financially for the data they currently hand over for nothing.
“Looked at in another way, it’s astounding that people have been so happy to give up something so valuable without charge.”
It follows growing calls from campaigners for big business to ‘reward’ customers for their data by giving them discounts on goods, money off bills or loyalty points.
Four years ago mobile phone giants teamed up to profit from the data they held on customers by placing ads on behalf of companies wanting to target them.
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Last month it emerged Facebook could have to pay Brits up to £12,500 each in compensation following its privacy blunder.
Sir Vince added that the online “Wild West” should be policed by an independent standards body to act as a watchdog for the digital platforms in moderating content.
He said the regulator could be funded by Government directly or by tech platforms themselves through a compulsory levy.
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