Did you hear about how Maine recently passed a bill banning internet providers from selling your data without your consent?
Your data is valuable.
And you’ve probably heard many stories in the news about how your data is being sold for big money by search engines and the social media.
While in many states there’s not much you can do about that, but there are now apps available where you can sell your data for cash. Not a lot of cash, unfortuantely, but could you use a few dollars a month? Especially for something you probably don’t miss anyway?
If you don’t mind sharing your information, and you want to earn money passively, some of the nine apps on this list can enable you to participate in the data-for-cash bonanza that’s currently taking place without your permission (or even knowledge!).
Did you know you can win money playing games?
Blackout Bingo is a free bingo game that you play on your phone against other players. If you’re familiar with bingo, you know exactly how to play this fun and fast paced game.
You can compete in two-minute games to earn tickets redeemable for gift cards and merchandise. You can also play for real money, competing in tournaments, and more.
(if bingo isn’t for you, Solitaire Cash is another popular game!)
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PermissionResearch
Permission Research is owned by COMSCORE, which is an American-based global media measurement and analytics company based in Reston, VA. It’s listed on the stock market (NASDAQ, under ticker SCOR) and they were founded in 1999.
All you have to do is install their software on your computer and it just monitors your internet activity. They don’t show you any extra advertising, you don’t have to answer surveys, and they don’t use your internet connection for anything – they are simply monitoring your activity.
You get $10 a month for as long as you keep it running. Easiest ten bucks ever.
This is for desktop computers only.
Pawns.app
Pawns.app is an app that offers a variety of ways to earn money including sharing your internet. You can install the app on a variety of devices, from your phone to your computer, and then run the Pawns.app. The app will share your data anonymously (no personal data) and companies use this for marketing purposes. You are paid based on your IP addresses and internet speed.
This app is available worldwide and the minimum payment is $5. When you sign up with the link below, you start with $3 in your balance.
Honeygain
Honeygain is not an app that makes money when you sell your data but I wanted to include it on the list because the app uses your internet connection to help you make money on the side. You don’t sell your data, it’s just using your internet connection.
It’s an app you install on your computer or your Android phone. The app will then use your internet connection to run various marketing research queries for their clients. This market research, spread out across different geographies and devices, is useful for companies. They don’t look at your data or behavior.
Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel
The Nielsen Company is famous for tracking the behavior of TV viewers, but usually by telephone surveys. Not surprisingly, they’ve extended that to computers and mobile devices through Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel. They give away $10,000 each month for this purpose, at up to $50 for anyone willing to add their app to your Internet device.
You install the app on your computer, phone, tablet, e-reader or another mobile device, and it will track your activity. You’ll receive sweepstakes entries and earn points worth up to $50 per month. They don’t disclose what the points can be used toward.
Join Nielsen Computer & Mobile
National Consumer Panel
National Consumer Panel collects data on your purchases. You receive the NCP mobile app or handheld scanner, and use it to scan barcodes on all items you buy. You’ll then earn points to redeem for gifts and sweepstakes entries.
This is a partnership between the research firms Nielsen and IRi.
Points are redeemed through the NCP gift catalog, while the quarterly sweepstakes pays out up to $20,000 if you win. You can earn even more points by participating in surveys or joining special studies.
DataCoup
DataCoup describes itself as the “world’s first personal data marketplace”, and as “the only company that helps you sell your anonymous data for real, cold hard cash”. You can use the app to connect to various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tumblr. You can also link a debit or credit card to monitor your spending activity. However, when you do, the connection is read-only to your bank, and credentials are never stored.
Each data source has a certain market value, and you’ll be paid whenever that data is purchased. You can redeem earnings whenever you’ve accrued a minimum of $5. Earnings accumulation is frozen at $25, until you redeem your money. After that, you can resume participation. Money can be sent to a Visa or MasterCard debit card.
This might be the most generous app on this list since there’s no indicated cap on how much you can earn.
Smart Panel
Smart Panel can be installed on any registered device, then you can take surveys to earn rewards. You’ll get $5 just for qualifying for participation, then an additional $5 every 30 days your devices stay connected. They also offer monthly giveaways and loyalty bonuses every three months.
Screenwise Panel
Screenwise Panel, a.k.a. Cross Media Panel/Google Opinion Rewards, is an invite-only program sponsored by Google. It’s a partnership with GfK and, not all that surprisingly, requires you to install the Google Chrome browser.
Then, you install a browser extension on each computer or laptop in your household. You can install a mobile meter on any smartphone devices.
Seven days after you sign up, you’ll receive $8. If you remain a member, you receive an additional $2 per week. That will give you the ability to earn just over $100 per year, just for having your browsing history tracked by the app.
FusionCash
FusionCash will pay you $5 just for signing up for the app. This requires confirming your email address and completing a brief survey. They also pay bonus credits for participation in surveys and sign-up offers, as well as forum posting, Twitter follows, payment pictures, profile completions and referral bonuses. The amount of credits, and what they can be redeemed for, varies by offer, ranging from $0.05 to $5 each. You can be paid by check, bank deposit or PayPal.
Panel App
Panel App enables you to earn prizes, rewards and sweepstakes, just for going about your usual online activity. It’s a little different in that it is more about tracking your location than about your user activity.
But you can also earn bonus points by completing surveys, connecting your social networks and referring your friends. The website, which is fairly simple, doesn’t say what the points can be redeemed for, so you’ll be taking a bit of a leap with this one.
You won’t make a fortune on any of these apps – just a few dollars a month.
But your data is regularly being monitored and harvested without your permission, so you may as well make at least a little bit of money on it!
