Control & Value Trade-Offs in Handling User-Data

Subtitle:The Example of Location-Based-Services

Location related services are an integral part of the mobile service landscape today. Detecting one’s whereabouts and relating them to networked information offers benefits for users and businesses. It also entails issues, particularly regarding users’ privacy. This paper assesses LBS as multi-sided markets, where value is collective, actors are interdependent, and the gatekeeper role is user ownership (control over the user and data). It adopts a business modelling perspective to: (a) define the value network around LBS as two-sided markets, where the LBS provider intermediates between end-users and Third Parties; and (b) extract potential revenue models. It focuses on trade-offs between control in the ecosystem and the creation of value. Finally, it discusses how current developments contribute to changes in the position of the user within the ecosystem, and if mutually beneficial interaction can come about.

Publication year:2015

Keywords:Location-based services, Personal data, Multi-sided markets, Control, Value, Business Model