How do we regulate data ownership?
the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.
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T he European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) marks the continued trajectory towards individual ownership over private data. In theory, companies that collect, analyze and sell your data, i.e., spy on you for financial gain, must allow users to understand that they are being surveilled, allow them to withdraw permission or even to transfer their data across competitors. This is a major first step in developing digital data legislation which puts human needs first. Regulators are more tech-savvy today than ever before, however, they are far from competing with the wizards of big-tech. For all its merits, GDPR cannot yet substantively confront the root of this technologically based problem. As such, we must preempt the potential future harms and complexities of data ownership in the 21st century with solutions which incorporate law and technology. Our mission is to develop successful and sustainable solutions by adopting a multi-pronged approach combining Finance, Technology, Society, and of course, Legislation.
GDPR, follows in the footsteps of its predecessors: the EU Charter of Fundamental rights which enshrines the right to Protect Personal Data (art. 7-8) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides legal protection against interference with privacy (art. 12).
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence ...
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.- Article 12. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
However, without adequate access to the necessary tools to protect individuals from tracking, manipulation and lack of meaningful consent — if we cannot substantively exercise and assert our fundamental rights to privacy in the digital age then we surrender the freedoms and protections our ancestors worked tirelessly to establish.
Although GDPR, and similar legislation, provide legal guidance the reality is that most individuals and small companies do not have the resources and oversight to combat the army of engineers who are capturing our data. These enormous businesses will not change their predatory behaviour unless they are compelled by law or it becomes too expensive to maintain the status quo. Your personal data is big business, and with the help of highly-paid lawyers giant tech companies manage to obfuscate the substance of the law while following the letter. In addition, the list of reasons for users to turn a blind eye to privacy is long: convenience, functionality, tacit consent, placation, financial incentives and distraction. However, all of these reasons lead to the normalization of giving up sensitive information to unknown third parties. For example, lengthy notices written in incomprehensible legalese designed to evoke feelings of resignation, complacency and blatant disregard for privacy. As a result, clicking “ ” has become second-nature to us – abandoning our freedoms to terms and conditions we have not read or understood. Even the name PRIVACY POLICY, is misleading – the privacy policy protects the company not you. A PRIVACY NOTICE does not restrict a company from selling your data to third parties, on the contrary, such a notice usually implies that the companies can and will share your information for competitive advantage. However, most of us do not have hours to decipher complex privacy policies that can change at any moment. This process is by no means an example of meaningful consent.
Unfortunately, data-protection legislation cannot single-handedly inspire consumers to protect and oversee their own private information. To conclude, we believe that it is essential for a functioning legal system that individuals are able to exercise their de facto rights. There is little use for paper tigers and declarations that are undermined and made useless by incomprehensible notices and the complexities of data science. The principle is simple, our rights decay when it is too complicated and obtuse to exercise them.
Only once consumers have access and oversight over their data, how it is collected, where it is stored, who is using it and for what purpose – only then, can we provide meaningful consent. If data continues to be siloed and tech-companies continue to know more about us than we know about ourselves – users privacy rights will continue exploited. Our goal is to build the tools regular people need in order to exercise their fundamental data rights.
Those who own your data—own the future.
How do you protect data ownership?
The greatest minds of our generation and the most advanced technologies of our times have been co-opted by the endless pursuit of advertising revenue. We must re-examine and re-invent long standing incentive-structures in big-tech which leave societies addicted, depressed and polarized. The attention economy is an ineffective post-hoc business model which violates privacy rights all over the globe for the benefit of a select-few individuals. If they continue to ignore the major harms caused to society and our young-people by their manipulative products which sell attention, social-relations and personal data for profit then we must guard against it ourselves. We believe that science, technology and innovation should serve human beings not broken business models. Today we already see the rise of substantive privacy and the fall of surveillance capitalism all around us due to people like you choosing privacy over momentary convenience.
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T he world is changing faster than ever before and people like you are demanding to be heard. As human beings shape our technologies — our technology shapes us in return. Our minds, our societies and our culture is more than determined by the digital infrastructure in which it is submerged. As such, it is essential that our tools serve the prosperity of human beings and not the reverse.
We develop technology that increases individual agency for long-term decision making rather than exploit human vulnerabilities for short term profit. The technology we create must be aware of human nature and aid, rather than hinder, in building a shared reality. Our current design architectures are exploitative and unsustainable. Approaches such as microtargeting, radicalizing recommender systems and inverse privacy are leading tech companies to have asymmetrical power over individuals and society. The same machine learning techniques that defeated world chess champion Garry Kasperov in 1997 is today being used to manipulate you. Algorithms meticulously designed by the best engineers in the world employed by the richest companies in all of history and fueled by the largest pools of intimately private information to ever exist is actively being used to influence your decisions. These algorithms never get tired, hungry or have a bad day. Even for the most vigilant and rational person it is only a matter of time until they fall prey to these powerful algorithms. Technology should, and has the capacity to, leave us wiser and more connected than ever before. The question remains, is advertising really the best use of our brightest minds, our biggest companies and our most advanced technologies?
The human brain did not evolve in high-tech environments and is therefore susceptible to fall victim to informational warfare fueled by massive stockpiles of information and designed to exploit. Ever increasing misinformation, extremism, conspiracy-theories and propaganda has disrupted our capacity to make sense of the world. Right now, companies are getting rich from your stress, loneliness and addiction. The technological systems we are building are not aligned with the goals of the human project.
The contemporary business models deprive us of our time, confidence and grasp of truth. Our current metrics for technological success, such as time-on-site and likes are driving advanced recommendation engines, microtargeting and machine learning to deprive us of our ability to make free and informed decisions. The unrestrained race for human attention is causing serious harms to society through perverse incentives. The power of these technologies can be used for good and for il. Technology should help us accomplish our goals, respect our human rights and maximized individual agency. This is our nuclear moment. Just as it dawned on Oppenheimer, Bohr and Feynman that their technological creation could be used for evil or good - today we are realizing that our technology can augment, rather than detract, from the human capacity to make meaningful decisions.
Those who own your data—own your future.
How do you think about data ownership?
There is still time to reclaim your digital identities from algorithmic manipulative, systemic misinformation and privacy violations. There is still time to inoculate ourselves against algorithms that do not serve your best interests. More and more people are deciding to assert the value of their personal information in the face of large corporations who claim that our data is theirs to take. So-called data “crumbs” and informational exhaust
is worth trillions to these companies, but to human beings, the information that composes who we are, who we love and what we do is beyond priceless. Human beings are much more than just raw material to be extracted for the benefit of a few digital-monopolists. Those who see the bigger picture, those who understand the damage being caused to our societies and those who recognize the value of their information are beginning to protect themselves, their families and their communities from data-harvesting.
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T oday Individuals are treated as a means of value extraction. There is no long-term goal of restoring control, increasing human agency or enabling user control over personal data.
Despite their claims to the contrary, many technology solutions today are not in the business of empowering users; they are in the business of harvesting their data for short-term ad-revenue. As such, we will need to build new socio-digital infrastructures that promote and support human flourishing, individual autonomy and self-determination - this is paramount for our long term success as a society and as a species. Our goal is to develop successful and sustainable solutions by adopting a multi-pronged approach combining law, finance, technology and of course society.
Currently, technology companies are waging a billion dollar war for the limited resources of your attention. They wish to hold a monopoly on your information in order to sell it to advertisers and other parties who profit off our dispossession. The current model is to design powerful technologies that are indifferent if not directly antagonist to our goals, intentions, aspirations and wellbeing. The current success metrics such as maximizing watch-time, time spent on site or clicks at all costs are often misaligned with society's values. Algorithms intentionally designed to maximize perverse incentives are leaving our society fragmented and divided. This can be seen in the increasing cases of internet addiction, social anxiety, depression, misinformation, disinformation, etc. As long as tech giants are profiteering from addiction, social division and privacy violations the very fabric of our society will continue to be at risk.
This need not be the case. However, we must recognize that this is both a technological phenomenon and a societal problem. As such, any meaningful solution must understand both the complexities of technology and the value of human prosperity.
Data Autonomy means empowering people, companies and groups with oversight, control and access to their own personal data. It is no longer tolerable that users are unable to manage, maintain and use their personal data towards realizing their own goals. Bayard Data explored new methods of securing, understanding and controlling our data flow. Our citizen-centric data architecture combines legal, technical, economic and societal considerations into the fundamental design of our products. If you do not control your data, someone else will. If we do not demand companies to respect our rights to privacy, they will continue to exploit them. If we do not align algorithmic incentives with societal goals, the results will be catastrophic. In this transitionary period, we have been provided with a unique opportunity to reclaim our information, assert our privacy rights and build technology for a better society. What do you want the world of the future to look like for your children? You decide.
Those who own your data—own your future.
“How do you build a data economy?"
The present-pandemic has and will continue to change our lives and the future. This is accelerated by initiatives such as environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), the UN’s sustainable development goals and the shift towards circular economics. The future is coming and if we are to harness the fourth industrial revolution for good we must ensure that human beings, business leaders and decision makers are not beholden to perverse incentives and are equipped to make the best decision possible when building a more resilient economic sphere. In recent times, green-washing and buzz-words have taken the place of meaningful change, this is coming to an end. The profitability of companies in tomorrow's green economy will be determined by their actions today in facilitating the transition. Companies will be judged retrospectively on their current respect for society, the climate and the bigger-picture.
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The economic incentives of the future will align company revenue directly with the prosperity of employees, suppliers, investors and society at large. The current misalignment between what markets value and what human beings value will close and the market will become more capable of responding to global phenomena such as climate change, technological disruption and inequality. The private sector will be the crucial driving force behind this change. How much a company is willing to contribute to rebuilding a responsible post-pandemic economy will determine their role in the growth within the emerging paradigm. With consumers, employees, and suppliers empowered by data companies will inevitably be held accountable for their substantive actions. With political, economic, social and environmental systems working toward common goals and everyday people empowered by greater-and-greater access to information – substantive change, rather than greenwashing, PR campaigns and sales slogans, will be paramount for continued market successes. Our goal is to develop and empower successful and sustainable solutions by adopting a multi-pronged approach combining law, technology, society and of-course economics.
Our current technological and economic metrics are not aligned with society's values, the long-term prosperity of the economy or general human wellbeing. The tireless pursuit of quarterly profits, shareholder value and endless growth are creating major unpriced externalities. These harms will manifest themselves in the future and cause major harm to the economic and technological paradigms that enabled them. Destruction of the climate, inequality and lack of trust in institutions are just some of the harms that are not accounted for in our quarterly revenue reports. The economy is contained within the biosphere. As such, any economic system that destroys the environment is ultimately self-terminating. New metrics are emerging which adopt a multi-factor approach, rather than a single number, in order to maximize long term economic and ecological prosperity. We are developing tools that empower users to navigate the global transition to sustainable and circular economic systems. These new strategic models have shown that with the right incentive structure economic growth, innovation and human flourishing need not be at odds.
The fixation on blind short term growth is causing long term damage to future economic, technological and societal prosperity. As such, focusing on larger time scales and building more accurate models enable us to build greener, smarter, fairer and more profitable business models. Our goal is to ensure a flourishing long-term future, as such, we designed our business model to ensure that employees, customers and society at large, not merely shareholders, are receiving the benefits generated by our new technologies. Aligning incentives through socially conscious mechanism design allows for positive-sum success across employees, business partners, customers and society at large. Not only is avoiding exploitative business models the right thing to do it increases long-term outcomes for your company. Our present-day action, priorities and considerations will begin to shape the world of tomorrow.
Those who own your data—own your future.
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