The New Data Sharing Economy Will Look Different
Data Sharing Transformation: Understanding the Changes
The way data is shared is changing significantly. This change marks the start of a big shift in data-sharing business models.
In the past, big aggregators and data brokers (the “middlemen”) dominated the data-sharing landscape. They offered bundled services like cleaning data, protecting data, anonymizing data, and helping with marketplace transactions.
But now, new rules, technology advancements, and market forces are reshaping how data is shared. This shift benefits the original data creators and customers, not the middlemen.
Reasons Behind the Changes
Three main factors are causing this big shift:
1. New Rules: The FTC and other regulators are clamping down on data sales and data brokers, making compliance more complicated and expensive for data-sharing middlemen.
2. Platform Changes: Big platform companies like Apple and Google are clamping down on commercial data collection practices. This limits the amount of data that flows directly to data brokers and aggregators, changing what data is available for sale.
3. Technology Improvements: New technology that better balances privacy and utility democratize many of the capabilities that have traditionally been performed by data aggregators and brokers.
Effects on Middlemen and Data Providers
For middlemen, these changes mean higher data acquisition costs, more legal risks, and more competition from their own suppliers.
But for companies who want to share their own data, new technology tools in the cloud data stack make it possible to safely share or sell data directly. This reduces the need for traditional data brokers.
Future of Data Service Companies
Despite challenges, new commercial data-sharing models are emerging. But the winners will increasingly coordinate the data value chain rather than owning it. They won’t look anything like LexisNexis, IQVIA, Experian, or the other incumbent data middlemen.
This coordination role will focus on building operational and technical patterns that ensure compliance, privacy, and data access at scale. You can think of this as creating a cross-company data mesh architecture.
Adapting to Change
Both incumbent and new companies must adjust to these new ways of sharing data. They need to find new ways to offer value in a world where direct, safe data exchange is the norm.
How can your company use these changes to benefit from the new data sharing methods? Let's discuss some ideas.
