On the Moral and Political Legitimacy of Personal Data Markets 

PhD project by Niklas Kirchner

The dissertation project evaluates moral arguments for and against the political legitimacy of trading personal data as an economic commodity. The central focus are economic exchanges were user`s personal data are shared to receive digital services and products "for free". Starting point for the normative inquiry are information-​theoretical considerations on data-​driven value creation, such as the observation that data is not yet information but requires ex ante contextualization and analysis in order to be of value at all. From here, the project investigates normative issues such as the weight of individual consent as a supposed basis for the permissibility of the transactions as well as problematic individual and societal consequences of personal data markets.