How much is your data worth?

More details here, but all you really need to know is that someone stole some data and then demanded 10MM in ransom:"I have your sh*t! In *my* possession, right now, are 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions. Also, I made an encrypted backup and deleted the original. Unfortunately for Virginia, their backups seem to have gone missing, too. Uhoh :(For $10 million, I will gladly send along the password."Who's data was it? 8MM patients who were participating in the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program.But really, it's up to the VPM to decide what to do about the whole botch-up.Aside from the shock value, this is just more food for thought for some of our favorite dead-horse issues:

  1. Who owns your personal information?
  2. Is personal data a commodity that *can* be owned?
  3. If it is, how much is it worth? Should there be an open marketplace for personal information?
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Promises, promises: what information is being shared with third parties?

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Ack! Congress writing privacy policies?