System and method of reciprocal data sharing

1. A system comprising:

a network interface configured to receive data from and communicate data to a communications network;

processor coupled to the network interface; and

a memory accessible to the processor and configured to store instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

receive a data request from a first member of a data exchange system at the network interface;

determine a reciprocity value associated with the first member, the reciprocity value related to a data contribution made to the data exchange by the first member;

provide selected data corresponding to the data request to the first member based on the reciprocity value;

update the reciprocity value associated with the first member based on data provided to the first member to produce an updated reciprocity value;

store the updated reciprocity value in the memory;

retrieve results data from one or more data sources of the data exchange corresponding to the data request;

selectively limit the results data based on the reciprocity value to produce the selected data;

determine a second member of the data exchange system that contributed a data element of the results data to the data exchange system;

determine a data access limit based in part on the data contribution and a data sharing limit selected by the second member by modifying the value of the data contribution by the data sharing limit, the data sharing limit including a reciprocity value to apply to the data contribution based on an industry type of the first member and based on a use specified by the first member, wherein the data sharing limit selected by the second member includes one or more modifier values to apply to a value of the data contribution based on one or more aspects of the data request;

automatically apply the data access limit and the reciprocity value to the retrieved results data to produce the selected data; and

automatically update the data access limit based on the selected data sent to the first member.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

retrieve results data from one or more data sources of the data exchange corresponding to the data request; and

selectively limit the results data based on the reciprocity value to produce the selected data.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

the data contribution includes an amount of data the first member previously provided to the data exchange system;

the reciprocity value includes a data access limit defining an amount of data to which the first member is permitted access in exchange for the data contribution; and

the memory further storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to selectively provide the selected data to the first member in response to the data request when the first member has not exceeded the data access limit.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

the data contribution includes a total value of data the first member previously provided to the data exchange system, wherein the data contribution includes a plurality of data categories having a corresponding plurality of values; and

the reciprocity value includes a data access limit includes a value of data to which the first member is permitted access in exchange for the data contribution.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the data access limit includes a number obtained by modifying the data contribution by the data sharing limit.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

determine whether the first member has exceeded a data access limit; and

provide the selected data in response to the data request when the first member has not exceeded the data access limit.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the memory further includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

determine a number of data accesses by the first member to data provided by the second member;

determine whether the number of data accesses is less than the data access limit; and

provide the results data in response to the data request when the first member has not exceeded the data access limit.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, through a network, a data request from a computing device associated with a first member of a data exchange system at a processor circuit;

automatically determining a data contribution associated with the first member, including an amount of data the first member previously provided to the data exchange system by automatically searching a database;

automatically retrieving data including a plurality of records from a database according to the data request, the retrieved data including a data sharing limit assigned by a second member, wherein:

the data sharing limit includes a reciprocity value to apply to the data contribution based on an industry type of the first member and based on a use specified by the first member; and

the data sharing limit selected by the second member includes one or more modifier values to apply to a value of the data contribution based on one or more aspects of the data request;

automatically determining, using the processor circuit, a data access limit for the first member based in part on a data contribution previously provided by the first member and the data sharing limit by modifying the value of the data contribution by the data sharing limit;

automatically applying a filter corresponding to the data access limit, using the processor circuit, to selectively limit the plurality of records of the retrieved data to produce results data according to the data access limit;

selectively providing the results data through the network to the computing device of the first member in response to the data request; and

automatically updating the data access limit based on the results data sent to the computing device of the first member.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the data access limit specifies a number of records that can be shared.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein, the data request includes the use specified by the first member.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

the data access limit includes an amount of data to which the first member is permitted access in exchange for the data contribution; and

selectively providing the results data to the computing device of the first member in response to the data request when the first member has not exceeded the data access limit.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

the data contribution includes a plurality of data categories having a corresponding plurality of values, the data contribution includes a total value of data based on the corresponding plurality of values; and

the data access limit includes a value of data to which the first member is permitted access in exchange for the data contribution.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining a number of data accesses by the first member to data provided by the second member;

determine whether the number of data accesses is less than the data access limit; and

provide the results data in response to the data request when the first member has not exceeded the data access limit.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface configured to receive data from and communicate data to a communications network;

a processor coupled to the network interface; and

a memory accessible to the processor and configured to store instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

receive a data request from a computing device associated with a first member of a data exchange system, the data request including a use specified by the first member;

determine a data contribution associated with the first member, including an amount of data the first member previously provided to the data exchange system by automatically searching a database;

automatically retrieve data including a plurality of data records from a database according to the data request, the retrieved data including a data sharing limit assigned by a second member, wherein:

the data sharing limit includes a reciprocity value to apply to the data contribution based on an industry type of the first member and based on a use specified by the first member, and

the data sharing limit selected by the second member includes one or more modifier values to apply to a value of the data contribution based on one or more aspects of the data request;

determine, automatically, a data access limit for the first member by modifying the value of the data contribution by the data sharing limit;

automatically apply a filter corresponding to the data access limit to selectively limit the plurality of data records to produce results data;

the results data through the network to the computing device associated with the first member in response to the data request; and

automatically update the data access limit based on the results data sent to the computing device of the first member.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the first member has exceeded the data access limit, including:

determining a number of data accesses by the first member to data provided by the second member; and

determining whether the number of data accesses is less than the data access limit.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the first member permits sharing of reciprocal data to the second member prior to providing the results data in response to the data request.