What’s Your Personal Information Worth?


Personal Data CalculatorWhen you give information to a company, that information is worth money. Whether it is an application for a credit card or a cell phone application, the information can (and often is) resold to others for a profit. You may be surprised at how much it is really worth. For example, a lot of the personal finance writers list their net worth and assets. Their asset information is worth $6.95. Basic information you’d supply for many applications can add up to over $100. SWIPE is an organization that you should request the value of the information you give to others as they will likely resell it and make a profit from it.

This calculator allows you to determine what your data bits are worth on the open market so you can request proper compensation when it is asked from you. For instance, a typical cellular phone company will ask for your address, date of birth, phone number, Social Security number and driver’s license to open a new account. Consult our data calculator and that will be $13.75 please!

Refer to this calculator when you interact with all businesses and government agencies. Make sure you get a cut of the profits from the reselling of your information.

Here is what your personal information is worth at the retail level according to the SWIPE Personal data calculator ranked in accordance to worth:


Rank Information What It’s Worth
1 Military Record $35.00
2 Bankruptcy $26.50
3 Worker’s Comp $18.00
4 Unpublished Phone # $17.50
5 Felony $16.00
5 Industry Accreditation $16.00
7 Employment $13.00
7 Sex Offender $13.00
9 Education $12.00
10 Cell Phone # $10.00
11 Own Business $9.95
11 Past Addresses $9.95
13 Credit $9.00
13 Misdemeanor $9.00
15 Social Security # $8.00
16 Divorce Info $7.95
16 Marriage Info $7.95
18 Assets $6.95
19 Driver License Info $3.00
19 Motor Vehicle Reg $3.00
19 Relatives $3.00
22 Assets Seized $2.95
22 Lawsuits $2.95
24 Date of Birth $2.00
25 Aircraft License $1.50
25 Own Aircraft $1.50
25 Own Boat $1.50
25 Real Estate $1.50
25 Shareholder $1.50
30 Accident Record $1.00
31 Own Vehicle $0.75
31 Professional License $0.75
33 List of Vehicles $0.70
34 Address $0.50
34 Executive Affil $0.50
34 Past Phone #’s $0.50
34 Zip Code $0.50
38 Concealed Weapons $0.25
38 DEA License $0.25
38 Firearms License $0.25
38 Hunting & Fishing License $0.25
38 Merchant Vessel $0.25
38 Neighbors $0.25
38 Published Phone # $0.25
38 Registered URL $0.25
38 Voter Registration $0.25


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March 18th, 2006
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Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Russell
Posted on:
March 19, 2006 at 12:13 am

I’m tempted to ask but I know I’ll be looked at as if I’m crazy.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
makingourway
Posted on:
March 19, 2006 at 12:15 pm

That’s amazing. Thanks for the wonderfl link.
It’s a bit unfortunate that I can’t refuse to give the personal information unless I’m compenstated – those insurance companies won’t underwrite me without it.
It would be nice if I could toll them every time they used my information outside of the originating transaction.
Regards,
makingourway

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
fern
Posted on:
March 22, 2006 at 8:45 am

yeah, it’s nice they assigned a value to these things, but real world truth is that no one’s going to pay you for this stuff.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Missy
Posted on:
March 25, 2006 at 6:50 pm

I’m totally surprised ones cell phone number is only worth $10. Great article. Thanxs!

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Curtis Carpenter
Posted on:
May 23, 2006 at 2:49 am

Interesting, great information. i am thinkling like fern that it’s nic there’s a value, but i reckon I am worth more than the total of the list above. My life is worth more than $277.60. Even if that is US Dollars!

I was contemplating the same thing when I lost my PDA.

CC.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Daruma
Posted on:
December 14, 2009 at 8:14 am

Make no mistake, this is a multi billion dollar industry! It should be illegal for anyone to sell, charge an amount to cover their so called costs, or profit in any way from sharing/transferring anyone’s personal information to another individual or organization. They can ruin your life by providing false information and there’s no way to correct it. They don’t have to tell you where they get the incorrect information from so you can’t contact that place & get it corrected. I don’t think any one or any organization or company should be allowed to sell, share, or supply your personal information for any reason to anyone. This ease of exchanging your personal information without you being informed each and every time it is exchanged is why there are so many problems with identity theft. Which is another multi billion industry to try and fix identity theft. At least if they had to inform you every time your information is exchanged, you’d know if someone was trying to open and account or stealing your information/use your information without your consent.

They should be required to inform us the very second someone requests/accesses our information or tries to add to or change our information.

Each time they sell our information, they should have to pay us at least $50. Why should they even be allowed to make a penny at our expense. You can’t even get your information locked without paying them to do it and then you have to know & pay every single company/person selling your information which just isn’t right. It’s not like there’s a list of everyone that sells personal information. They should have to ask you for your approval every time they want to sell any bit of your information and have your written approval before they transfer the information.

When you apply for credit, buy something, etc your information should only be used for that particular transaction. They should not be allowed to sell your information to anyone they choose. You should have the choice not them. There should be stiff penalties for anyone that sells your personal information, especially without your consent.

Instead of requiring you to opt out, the laws should make it mandatory that you opt in if you want to let them sell your information. There should also be a national registry showing all information transfers between parties, information about the parties, type of information transferred, and amounts charged.
But I suppose just like the national do not call registry they’d find some loop hole…