Cianan Brennan: How data becomes money - the price we pay for keeping web content free

The convenience companies such as Google have brought to modern living is undeniable — and the company says that it never technically sells our information to third parties. But are we sacrificing too much of our privacy just to make our online lives easier to manage? Cianan Brennan reports

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One of the endless criticisms in the endless debate on the rights and wrongs of present-day big tech and the quest for data accountability is the idea that users of such tech are effectively walking cash-generators for the corporate behemoths.

Like so much in this world, such a statement is not entirely wrong — but it is not entirely right either.