• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, May 19, 2015

As the “Internet of Things” takes shape, the importance of valuable data comes into focus. But who owns that data?

It’s currently a finders keepers, losers weepers type of deal. That’s what Brandon Fischer, director of predictive insights at GroupM Next, said at the Internt of Things: Advertising conference during Internet Week New York on Tuesday.

The other panelists seemed to agree. In fact, “finders keepers” became a phrase that meant “those who finds the data, own the data” during the rest of the panel.

Verizon and AT&T are not going to want to share their data with Apple or Google, for example, the panelists quipped. There will always be two sides to the story, they contended, and unless a governing body steps in and changes the game, “finders keepers” is the way data authority will continue to work.

The idea of consumers owning and sharing their own data -- creating their own little pocket within the “Internet of Things” -- was also kicked around the panel, but that seems unlikely.

“I don’t think enough people care enough about” their data for that to happen, said Douglas Rozen, chief innovation officer at Meredith Xcelerated Marketing.