Would you accept £6 per month to let Facebook use and share your data?

A study across six countries has identified just how much people are willing to be paid for Facebook to use and share their contact information.

German residents expected the highest amount per month, at around £6, while the USA ranked lowest, requesting only £2.70.

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The study came from a US based research and development centre called the Technology Policy Institute (TPI) and is the world's first survey to try and understand the value people place on their online privacy and data.

The study surveyed people in Germany, the United States, Mexico, Columbia, and Argentina.

What is the price of your privacy?

People taking part in the survey expected the highest payment for financial information and bio-metric information, such as eye-scans and finger prints. The lowest charge went to location based data, at only £1.40 per month.

“Differences in how much people value their privacy of different data types across countries suggests that people in some places may prefer weaker rules while people in other places might prefer stronger rules,” said Scott Wallsten, president and senior fellow at TPI.

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“Quantifying the value of privacy is necessary for conducting any analysis of proposed privacy policies.”

Although this is a hypothetical study, the findings demonstrate how much value people put on their data.

Studies like these are important, as they explore the growing concern around tech giants and retailers storing personal information on their users and customers.

Privacy violations are becoming a large problem as tech giants dominate the market. US regulators have imposed hefty fines on Facebook and YouTube for privacy violations and California has put in place a new privacy law.

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The Californian attorney general, Xavier Becerra, sent a letter to four top US lawmakers urging them not to pre-empt the state’s new privacy law, urging the US legal system to consider digital threats to privacy.

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