Who needs Google? New service will let you sell your own data to companies

Are you annoyed that Google and Facebook get to rake in enormous revenues every year because they’re selling your personal data to other companies without even giving you a cut? If so, then you might want to check out an upcoming service from Reputation.com that lets you completely cut out the middle man. Technology Review reports that Reputation.com is planning to “launch a feature that lets users share certain personal information with other companies in return for discounts or other perks.” Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik tells Technology Review that the new initiative is an effort to give Internet users more power and control over what data they’re sharing with third parties as well as an opportunity to profit from it. Fertik says he wants to offer an alternative to companies that “take your data without your knowledge and permission and give it to people that you can’t identify for purposes you’ll never know.”