Big Tech extracts retirement-scale wealth from UK internet users, research shows

Internet users generate commercial value through behavioral data collected from browsing, clicks, searches, messages, purchases, location history, and interactions with AI tools. The value is framed as a continuing exchange where “free” services are paid for with invisible extraction rather than money. A benchmark called Personal Data Annual Value estimates the commercial value firms obtain from individuals each year across advertising systems, AI platforms, APIs, enterprise software, hardware ecosystems, and inferred profiling. The data economy is described as extending beyond social networks into banking, insurance, healthcare, AI systems, and data brokerage markets. The economics are argued to be altered by AI, which increases the importance of human-generated data.

"“The implicit bargain of Web2 was simple: free services in exchange for invisible extraction,” the report states. “This paper argues that the bargain was never free.” According to the report, the modern data economy now extends well beyond Silicon Valley social networks to include banking, insurance, healthcare, AI systems, enterprise software, and data brokerage markets."

"“Brits are apparently giving away the equivalent of a retirement fund every time they mindlessly hammer "Accept All Cookies" just to read a recipe online.” A new white pape r from the Web3 Foundation claims that the average person in the UK and across Europe generates $1,604 a year in commercial value for the data-hungry machinery of the modern internet, rising to an inflation-adjusted value of $189,405 over a 60-year “digital lifetime.”"

"“The paper argues that internet users continue to treat digital services as ‘free’ despite effectively paying with a constant stream of behavioral data, prompts, preferences, location history, clicks, searches, messages, purchases, and whatever cursed thing they typed into ChatGPT at 2am.” In other words, your browsing history may now be outperforming your pension."

"“Personal Data Annual Value (PDAV),” is meant to estimate the commercial value that firms squeeze out of individual users each year across advertising systems, AI platforms, APIs, enterprise software, hardware ecosystems, and inferred behavioral profiling. Unlike earlier advertising-focused studies, the paper argues AI has fundamentally changed the economics because human-generated data"

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