How to license your data & get paid by advertisers

This week, people.io is launching the first trial in Shoreditch where restaurants, bars, florists and retail locations have already signed up. The plan is for the app to roll out nationwide, tapping into local businesses and major brands from around the country.

Aside from uniquely targeted adverts and promotions from local businesses and national brands, users of the service are rewarded in the form of credits. These can be converted into charity donations or redeemed in the marketplace against online subscription costs such as an annual membership to their music streaming service.

Nicholas , Founder, people.io, commented: “We have all had the experience of ads following us around the web - and of products that we’ve recently searched for popping up adjacent to the stories that we’re reading. For some of us, this feels fine, but there is also a growing sense that this could be done a lot better, with fewer messages that actually mean something to us, rather than receiving a scattergun of misjudged content.

"people.io is a way for people to realise the value of their data, but is also about offering control. Any data that users share with us belongs to them completely. We never claim ownership of any data we receive. We simply act as an intermediary between consumers and brands. You stay in control of everything you share with us and if you leave the platform, any personal data you gave is deleted permanently.”

In the last decade, the relationship between consumers and brands online has been muddied by a sea of ads competing for attention and an array of tracking technologies that have gathered information about consumer behaviour. There is little transparency and very often consumers are left confused as to exactly where the data about them has been collected from.

“We are putting consumers in control of their own data, fiercely protecting how their data is used to ensure privacy and rewarding them for the information they are willing to share. This helps to create a fairer value exchange for consumers who until now, have been largely cut out of the chain,” added Nicholas Oliver.

The platform is free to use and simple to sign up. Entering your name immediately earns a user credits. They receive further credits every time they share information on the things they like, or by connecting data services, like email, to do it automatically. The credits can be exchanged for goods and services in the people.io marketplace or converted into a cash donation for a partner charity.

people.io also enables consumers to get a better deal in their transactions with retailers, manufacturers and service providers. A poll of British consumers found that fewer than one in 20 is comfortable in asking retailers and brands for a discount. On the flip side, nine in ten consumers said that they would feel more loyal to a brand if it offered them a personalised incentive to buy.

people.io is seeking to disrupt the imbalance in our relationship with brands, enabling consumers to regain control of the value of their data whilst allowing sellers to reach the people who are most likely to want their products or services.