This study examines the legal and jurisprudential nature of personal data and the possibility of recognizing them as consideration in digital service contracts. With the expansion of the data-driven economy, a fundamental question has arisen as to whether users’ data can be treated as tradable economic assets, or whether human-rights considerations related to privacy impose limits on such recognition. This tension has become one of the major challenges of contract law in the context of digital platforms.Adopting a descriptive–analytical method and a comparative approach, the research analyzes European Union instruments-particularly Directive (EU) 2019/770-the dual legal system of the United Arab Emirates, encompassing both federal legislation and the regulations of the Dubai International Financial Centre, as well as Iranian law with reliance on the foundations of Imami jurisprudence.The findings indicate that the European Union has embraced the doctrine of “data as consideration,” albeit subject to the right to withdraw consent. In the UAE, a clear distinction is observed between the common-law-oriented approach of the free zones and the consent-based federal framework. In Iranian law, jurisprudential analysis suggests that although data do not constitute corporeal property, they possess rational economic value , drawing on views such as that of Muḥaqqiq Nāʾīnī. Any concern of gharar in valuing data can be mitigated through reliance on commercial custom and algorithmic transparency. Potential conflicts with human dignity may likewise be resolved by distinguishing between tradable commercial data and non-tradable sensitive data.Accordingly, Iranian law can, without fundamental reform, recognize “services-for-data” contracts as valid under Article 10 of the Civil Code or within the framework of a commutative ṣulḥ, while acknowledging users’ commercial ownership over non-sensitive data