Polish users data worth over EUR 1.3 bln to global tech companies

Data accumulated by Polish internet users were worth over PLN 6 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) to Google and Facebook in 2020, the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) has estimated.

According to a PIE report released on Tuesday, the value of Polish data to Facebook stood at around PLN 4 billion (EUR 881 million), and to Google at around PLN 2.2 billion (EUR 485 million) in 2020. 

In monthly terms, it translated into around PLN 10 (EUR 2.2) in revenue per Polish user of Google and around PLN 8.5 (EUR 1.9) for a Facebook user. 

But at the same time as much as 87 percent of the respondents interviewed by PIE for the report think that tech companies know too much about their users while 84 percent think that tech firms should be supervised more tightly.

Some 38 percent of those interviewed said they would pay extra to protect their data. 

"Poles are willing to pay for the protection of their data – PLN 17 (EUR 3.7) per month for limiting access to Facebook and PLN 14 (EUR 3.1) for sealing their data off from Google," analysts of the think tank wrote. But over 70 percent of users do not believe that paying a fee would better protect their data on the platforms.