Brazil is piloting a digital wallet program called dWallet that lets citizens earn money from their personal data. Through dWallets, users can accept bids from companies on their data, receive payment, and transfer funds to bank accounts.
Last year, the country announced that it is rolling out a data ownership pilot that will allow Brazilians to manage, own, and profit from their digital footprint, marking the first initiative of its kind in the world. The project is administered by Dataprev, a state-owned company that provides tech solutions for Brazil's social programs, and DrumWave, a California-based data valuation and monetization firm.
The pilot includes a small group Brazilians who will use data wallets to apply for payroll loans. Once the users give permission for the lenders to collect data in the wallets, the companies will be able to view the information and then bid on the loan.
Advocates say: The initiative can lay the foundation for a data ownership model that puts power back into consumers' hands to control their data, redefining the digital economy.
Critics say: The project could pressure vulnerable people into giving up their privacy for a quick payout. It could also raise the price of data for business, making it inaccessible for smaller companies and state offices with low budgets.
Pedro Bastos, a researcher at Data Privacy Brazil, told Rest of World:
“We will be asking half of the country that doesn’t know how to read to decide if their data can be bought for a certain fee. People in situations of vulnerability will say yes, and this might be used against them.”
The catch-22 for Brazilians is that the poorest people in the country likely have the least valuable data to sell due to their spending patterns, while wealthier consumers, who have the most valuable data, are less likely to sell it because the payout would be insignificant to them.