Companies feel the need to sell our data because they are offered tons of money for it by other companies such as Geofeedia. I agree that the blame does not rest on Geofeedia alone, but they aren't innocent either.
I don't know a good solution to this issue other than making it illegal to buy or sell information about users of public corporations' products.
The bigger issue is "why is it that companies can make more money selling personal data about consumers than selling products to consumers?" If companies had a viable business model that involved ordinary consumers paying money for services rendered, then their responsibility would be to the people paying them money, i.e. the consumer.
This is a really complicated question, and probably results from a combination of:
1.) Consumers not having disposable income at all, because real wages for a large slice of the population have been stagnant or falling for a generation and necessities like housing, education, and health care keep going up.
2.) Consumers having certain expectations of what they can get "for free", and not wanting to pay money for things that competitors will offer for free.
3.) Consumers having a poor understanding of the long-term consequences of putting data out there, and what it can be used for.
4.) Network effects where even if a small minority of consumers are aware of the above and would rather pay for products, they can't because a majority of the market would rather pay with information rather than money.
If you just ban the sale of information outright, you will either end up with work-arounds (eg. Google doesn't sell information, but it sells better ad-targeting and behavior manipulation based on that information), or consumers will lose access to services that they depend upon for much of their daily life.
I agree with most of what you said, but I don't think that banning the sale of user information is a problem for Google or similar business models.
I may not have a problem with Google collecting information about me and using it to target ads. I do have a problem with Google turning around and selling that information to just anyone. I think there is a distinction there that makes a difference. I may trust Google and choose to trust them with my information, but I don't necessarily trust their partners.
"3.) Consumers having a poor understanding of the long-term consequences of putting data out there, and what it can be used for"
This is so true and unfortunately there are few resources for helping people understand the implication and consequences. I think at the very least we should be educating young people, perhaps in school.
There's a decent documentary that came out a few years ago called "Terms and Conditions May Apply", its an independent release and so lacks some polish in places but I think its worth a watch:
> The bigger issue is "why is it that companies can make more money selling personal data about consumers than selling products to consumers?" If companies had a viable business model that involved ordinary consumers paying money for services rendered, then their responsibility would be to the people paying them money, i.e. the consumer.
Because advertising doesn't fulfill demand, it generates demand. It generates demand by preying on people when they are weak, when they are distracted, about what they are insecure, about what they are not knowledgeable.
I don't know a good solution to this issue other than making it illegal to buy or sell information about users of public corporations' products.