A new white paper from the Web3 Foundation has arrived to inform the advertising industry of something it has long suspected but rarely says out loud in polite conference-panel company: consumers aren’t the customers. They’re the inventory.
The average American now generates $6,563 a year in commercial value from personal data, according to the report. Over a 60-year “digital lifetime,” that rises to nearly $394,000 and more than $831,000 when adjusted for inflation. In other words, your browsing history may now be worth roughly the price of a house. Maybe two, if you clicked on enough “best cordless leaf blower” articles.