Guardian: Wealth of Our Collective Data

Individuals constantly produce and share data. “We share all this data about ourselves because we like the services these companies provide, and business leaders tell us we must to make it possible for those services to be cheap or free,” explains Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, for the Guardian. Shareholders of tech and other firms benefited, and the profits add incentives for less data security. “We have all pitched in to create a new commonwealth of information about ourselves that is bigger than any single participant, and we should all benefit from it,” Hughes concludes in comparing the value of data with that of labor: “when workers organize to withhold their labor, they have much more power to ensure employers more fairly value it.” He anticipates regulation, transparency and security. He also anticipates wealth-sharing through data agents and collective negotiations, tax revenues or royalty/dividend checks – similar to those issued to all Alaska residents through the state’s Permanent Fund as a share of the state’s oil revenues. Hughes estimates each man, woman and child could receive about $400 or more per year. A few people should not benefit from the data of all. – YaleGlobal