Dear Dr. Boli: I read somewhere once that a human being is worth like ten quid in chemicals, or, what, about thirteen “bucks” for you Yanks? But I was thinking that doesn’t seem to take into account what makes human life, like, worthwhile, you know? I mean, there’s more than chemicals, right? It’s about what you do with your life, right? So I was wondering: what is the real value of a human life? —Sincerely, name withheld, Lambeth Palace, London.

Dear Sir or Madam: Since, coincidentally, we were talking about privacy policies and other legal paraphernalia foisted on consumers by car companies, it seems reasonable to mention the findings of two United States Senators about one particular car company.

Between 2020 and 2024, Honda shared data from 97,000 cars with Verisk, which paid Honda $25,920, or 26 cents per car, and it did so without obtaining informed consent from consumers, according to information Honda provided Senator Wyden’s office.

Verisk is a company whose business is “data analytics and risk assessment,” according to its Wikipedia article, which appears to have been written by someone at the company. In other words, Honda sold every piece of information that could be known about you from your interactions with its electronic services, which includes things like your sex life and your genetic information, for 26¢.

Actual sales figures seem to Dr. Boli to be the only realistic and objective way to determine the value of a thing. On the open market, a human life is worth 26¢.