Value of Personal Data in IoT (VPD)

Data is key to Internet of Things (IoT). Being able to share and link users’ personal data is necessary for the provision of IoT services. However, since the data collected via various devices reflects consumers’ everyday behaviours, a user deciding to share their personal data is also sharing personal information about the everyday habits and routines of themselves and those they interact with.

In collaboration with Which? and Digital Catapult, MET Police, BT, British Gas and other user partners, this project seeks to understand whether consumers value their personal data, how they perceive the value of different types of personal data, and whether this subjective value can be embedded into models of data sharing and ownership, allowing for companies to harness economic value from personal data in an ethical way that preserves consumers rights to privacy.

Target Outcomes:

• To better understand public perceptions of the value of personal data, as well as the main barriers and incentives that individuals identify as influencing their willingness to share their personal data.
• To establish companies’ practices around use of personal data as well as industry perceptions of the benefits and risks to individuals of sharing their personal data.
• To contribute to policy and governance of safe and secure personal data sharing by informing policymakers and companies about the relative importance of different data types as perceived by users of the IoT.
• To empower consumer data sharing decision-making by discovering where consumers are misinformed about the risks and benefits of sharing their data and by quantifying the value of online privacy.