As personal data becomes one of the most valuable economic assets in the digital age, discussions around data ownership and rights are starting to gain momentum.
Currently, individuals have little control over how their personal information is collected, stored, and monetized. While regulations like GDPR and CCPA focus on privacy and consent, they stop short of recognizing personal data as something individuals can legally own.
Looking ahead, could we see a future where:
- Individuals have full legal ownership of their personal data, with the ability to sell, license, or restrict its use?
- Data is treated like intellectual property, with royalties paid to the original creators (i.e., users)?
- Governments implement a "data dividend" or universal basic income model based on the wealth generated by user data?
Or would this approach create more problems than it solves?
- Would it lead to further monetization of privacy where people are pressured to trade personal data for financial survival?
- Could Big Tech lock down even more control by making data ownership compliance too difficult for individuals?
- Is decentralized identity (DID) and Web3 technology a more viable path?
I explore these questions in Limited Connectivity, a new project where I connect the dots between technology, power, and digital rights. If you're interested, I recently wrote about this topic in more depth:
https://limitedconnectivity.substack.com/p/limited-connectivity-1-your-data
Would love to hear perspectives from this community—will personal data ownership be the next big debate in digital rights, or is this an idea that will never take off?