7. By-product of processing

Not all indirect data is purchased from someone else.

Data that has already been processed for a particular use might be re-used for another purpose.

Example 1: Restaurant Vouchers

The 'Happy Chappy' café owner is making a roaring trade.

Every item a customer orders is added to their bill. At the end of their meal customers are presented with their bill. So the bill is an example of direct data which has been processed.

But the owner wants to encourage her best customers to come back again by offering a discount for those who have spent a lot of money.

So now she uses the bill to decide who to give out discount vouchers to. Thus the bill has been processed for a different purpose i.e. the voucher scheme

Example 1: Mobile Phone use

Your mobile phone company keeps data of your phone useage (direct data) so they can work your bill (processed data).

But then the phone company might analyse the data further to work out what kind of customer you are. i.e. If you are a heavy user they may offer you a better contract. Or perhaps you are a very light user and so they may offer you incentives to use your phone more.

Thus your usage data has been processed for a different purpose.