According to the latest report published by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE), the information about Polish users of Google and Facebook is estimated at around PLN 6 billion (GBP 1,1 billion).
The PIE report reveals that the value of Polish users’ data for Google is estimated at PLN 4.025 billion (GBP 744 million), and PLN 2.196 billion (GBP 406 million) for Facebook in 2020.
Almost 9 out of 10 respondents participants to a related survey agreed with the affirmation that “tech companies know too much about us” while 84 per cent of them believe that the activities [of tech companies] “should be subject to greater scrutiny”.
Investigations conducted by the PIE clearly indicate that Poles are reluctant to allow digital platforms to use their data on a large scale.
38 per cent of respondents said they are ready to pay for better privacy protection for the websites they use. According to analysts, this may be related to a general feeling of distrust towards these companies. However, three-quarters of the surveyed Poles do not believe that a paid version of Facebook would better protect their rights.
As indicated, revenues from data of Polish users for Google and Facebook are higher than reported by Polish branches of these concerns for the purposes of statistics and for tax authorities.
Interestingly, 77 per cent of the respondents realise that they pay with their data for free access to online services.
PIE experts estimate that the monthly revenue from the data of a single Polish user for Google is PLN 10.16 (GBP 1,9). They pointed out that a change in the business model of digital platforms’ operation „will be difficult to implement, but seems to be socially expected.” 69 per cent of respondents in the PIE survey believe that no website or application should charge for access.
According to experts, the main aim of the new model would be to protect privacy and limit (or even eliminate) targeted advertising displayed to users. „With a fee of about 10 zlotys [GBP 1,85] per month, both parties would benefit,” Krystian Łukasik, an analyst from the digital economy team at PIE told money.pl.
The report published by PIE shows that Poles would be keen on trying such a formula. On average, Poles are willing to pay for restricting companies’ access to their data – „17 zlotys [GBP 3,1] per month for Facebook not to have access to data aggregated on the platform and from other sources, and 14 zlotys [GBP 2,6] per month for Google’s lack of access to our data, including activities on other portals„.
Author Sebastien Meuwissen
Cover photo: British Poles
