Cash for personal data does not add up, says Ipsos boss

Companies should not offer to pay people for personal data because the rich will simply opt out, says the head of one of the largest market research companies.

The idea that Facebook, Google and others should pay internet users for information does not stand up because the sums involved would not attract wealthy consumers, said Didier Truchot, president and co-founder of Ipsos. The wealthy, who are generally the most valuable to marketers, would choose privacy over money. “People who have some money” would not sign up, he said. “Just the poor will do it.”