TECH GIANTS PROFITING FROM YOUR PERSONAL DATA, BUT BRITS CAN GAIN £350 PER YEAR BY TAKING BACK CONTROL, SAYS LETALONE

• Tech companies are making hundreds of millions of pounds every day by giving access to the personal data of individuals
• With the cost of living at an all-time high, Brits can now make up to £350 per year by taking back control with a clever new app from LetAlone
• LetAlone is launching the #YourDataYouDecide campaign and app to encourage Brits to join its Beta Programme
• Consumers can see how tech giants profile them based on their data and create “Zero Party Data” – high value, user-authenticated, user-owned data

Tech giants are profiting from individuals in the UK by selling access to people’s personal data to advertisers, according to a new company that aims to give back control to British consumers.

LetAlone – a team of software engineers and data experts that includes former Google employees – has launched the #YourDataYouDecide campaign, to encourage the nation to take back their data and get cash in their back pockets – rather than in the banks of big tech companies.

LetAlone’s solution is an app that allows consumers to view, edit and take back control of their data so they choose how the data is used, and in turn get paid for the value it generates.

By giving Brits the power to own and control their data, it will allow the nation to gain on average £350 per year, whilst also stimulating the competition in digital markets to ensure challenger businesses can compete viably with tech giants.

At a time when cost of living is at an all-time high, access to sensitive personal data – such as health information, likes, dislikes and search terms – is being sold by tech companies to advertising agencies and services. Google alone made £43.5 billion over the last quarter from advertising services that provide access to personal data. That’s nearly £500m every day.

There are few regulations in place to protect consumers from this activity. As it stands, British people cannot view, edit or delete how their data is profiled online by the tech giants.

LetAlone’s free-of-charge solution is to allow consumers to own, view, edit and take back control of their data so they choose how the data is used, and in turn get paid for the value it generates.

A recent Which? survey showed that more than 4,000 Facebook and Google users would be prepared to pay just over £1 a month each to stop the internet giants from using their data to target adverts at them. The consumer group also revealed that in return for a small financial reward, 81% of UK consumers would be happy for the internet giants to use their data for targeted ads. On average, UK consumers said they would have to be paid just over £4 per month to agree to receive targeted ads, which would cost Google and Facebook over £4bn across all UK internet users. 

To combat the data capturing process carried out by tech giants and external platforms, LetAlone is launching its #YourDataYouDecide campaign this week,to encourage Brits to call time on this practice and join its free Beta Programme that allows users to control and earn money from their own data. Those who pledge their support for free in the first few weeks and refer their friends/family can earn up to three times the money from their data when the app launches.

LetAlone’s app, which launches on 12^th May, gives Brits the tools to get full visibility, control and ownership of their data through a decentralised data wallet. The decentralised data wallet has been uniquely crafted so LetAlone does not ‘sell’ anyone’s data, but instead it enables advertisers to pay to access willing users who match data profiles that are relevant to that advertiser.

This means that adverts can be served to the willing users and by this, LetAlone will share the advertising revenue with its users. Crucially, no data ever changes hands though LetAlone’s ‘ephermeral advertising’ system but instead it creates a new bridge between consumers and the advertising world where targeted advertising is possible and direct feedback on digital advertising campaign relevancy can be garnered. Users will remain the sole custodians of their personal data at all times; even LetAlone won’t be able to read user’s data profiles.

Justin Trevan, Co-Founder of LetAlone says: “LetAlone is challenging the tech industry and giving Brits the chance to take back control of their own data so they can benefit from it financially rather than large tech companies and external platforms.

“Savvier Brits are aware that their data is being used to profit larger tech companies, such as Google, but some Brits may not know of the data-led profiling which is attached to them due to their search history and general activity on the internet. Our LetAlone app will allow Brits to take back control and add a few pounds to their back pocket each month.  And critically, it makes our users the actual owners of their data, and removes the need for them to sell their data or have others sell it for them for profits as we’ve seen elsewhere in the industry, because once you’ve sold it you’ve lost control of it and its profits again…

It’s time to take back the nation’s right to its data and sign up to the Beta Programme so data can be used responsibly with the individual’s consent.” 

To find all information, please visit the LetAlone website: https://letalone.ca/, or view its latest campaign video here.