Chinese data exchange makes first sale involving personal data, paving the way for jobseekers to profit from their resumes

A Chinese data exchange has for the first time completed a transaction involving personal data, opening the way for jobseekers to potentially earn a share of profits from the sale of data based on their resumes.

The state-backed Guiyang Global Big Data Exchange, the country’s first data exchange that began operations as early as 2015, has facilitated the country’s first sale of personal data, according to the provincial government of Guizhou in southwest China.

With the consent of individual users, local tech firm Hao Huo collects their resumes and processes the information into a “data product”, which ensures usability and privacy through technologies such as confidential computing, the local government said. After Hao Huo has obtained legal advice from a law firm, it lists the data product on the Guiyang data exchange, where employers can purchase the data, according to the Guizhou government.

Chinese authorities are looking at “data” as another production factor, like land and labour, and are experimenting in developing a “market” for data. Personal data is particularly sensitive as it falls under China’s strict personal information protection law.

While Guiyang is the first Chinese city to operate a data exchange, its revenue generation has been modest. According to official data, the exchange reported only 549 million yuan (US$79.4 million) in cumulative turnover as of February 2023, and there were only 460 merchants trading data on the exchange.

Four of the most popular products on the exchange currently involve mapping data and services, according to its website.

Under the latest trial, individual users who have shared their resumes can receive a share of the exchange’s earnings, “allowing jobseekers to earn money as they look for a job”, the Guizhou government wrote.