In today’s digital age, where every click, search, and interaction is turned into data, “data ownership is becoming important.” Data ownership is the legal rights and complete control of any data created, collected and stored.”
In Image: Illustration of Data Security
As technology continues to blend itself seamlessly into the yesterdays — and tomorrow — of our lives, the all-mighty tussle over data ownership is becoming more dramatic by the day. This raises questions of permission, privacy and use of personal data. In this article I want to talk about the complexity of ownership of data, and the consequences that this had on humans as individuals, businesses and society as a whole. There are also calls for a more egalitarian structure that would give individuals more agency over their permanent digital footprint.
The Evolution of Data Ownership
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The History of Information Gathering
Collecting Information used to follow a painstaking process and had a narrow scope and scale. Businesses had direct access to consumer data through purchase, questionnaires and surveys. But with the rise of the internet and mass-adoption of digital devices, data collection became an omnipresent automated operation. All the online activities individuals do now – from mobile applications to web browsing – produces tremendous amounts of data. Here, the data ownership debate heats up, as such data is typically harvested behind the scenes without explicit consent from the end user.
Big Data’s Ascent
As businesses began to see the tremendous value of the data that was being collected, the term “big data” was coined. Businesses could apply machine learning and advanced analytics to this data to glean insights that would allow them to better target advertising, improve goods and services and optimize operations. But as companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon began to harvest troves of personal information, worries about data ownership and privacy began to emerge. In 2023, the public were very outraged after they learned how much businesses were making in profit and how they were freely making big bucks off of info that they unknowingly granted to them or anything close to that.
The Data Ownership Legal Environment
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Data as Property: The Court Case Discussion
A key debate in data ownership is whether or not data should even be considered property. Under the treatment of data as property, individuals would have property rights in their data similar to rights that they have over physical goods. This would necessitate not only that people be afforded the ability to select who can see their data, but that they be able to sell it or lease it, and even to charge for its use. Yet data is ethereal and can be copied without loss, which is part of the reason the legal world has had difficulty codifying it this way.
Existing Legal Structures
National and regional laws and regulations on data ownership differ significantly The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, has important provisions that give people the right to access, correct and delete their personal data. Under the GDPR, companies also must obtain affirmative consent from people before retaining personal data, and explain how their data will be used. By contrast, there is no single federal law that protects data in the United States, and who owns that data is largely governed by state laws and rules that vary from one sector to another.
Making the Case for More Power to Own Data
Proponents of expanded data ownership rights contend that people need more control over their personal information. This includes the right to request that personal data be deleted, to know what data is being collected and to opt out of data collection.” If people had the right to control their data, they could monetize their digital trail, and companies would no longer be able to seize their information to be sold (without permission) for profit. It would also incentivise businesses to create more ethical policies around data collection and use and to be more transparent around their data practices.
The Implications of Data Ownership for Ethics
Image: Illustration of the Legal Obligation of Data Ownership
The Unbalanced Power Between Individuals and Companies
One of the key ethical concerns when it comes to data ownership is the power differential between individuals and corporations. Where people have few rights or resources to maintain their privacy, big digital corporations have the resources, insight and experience to collect, process and monetize vast amounts of data. Because of this unfair balance of power, businesses often exploit customers, doing things like collecting and using data from them in ways which are harmful to them. For example, targeted advertising that utilizes personal data can shape behavior and entrench harmful stereotypes.
The Dangers of Abuse of Data
Data ownership is intimately related to the likelihood for data abuse as well. Without having to care about people, companies have all the open info they want. Data breaches, for example, can expose private data that can lead to identity theft and monetary loss. Businesses might also use data to discriminate against individuals by denying them access to services, or raising their prices, in response to personal data. These dangers only make it clearer that businesses that gather and use data need to be more responsible with their actions, and we need stronger data ownership rights.
Consent’s Function in Data Ownership
Consent is an important pillar of data ownership. Individuals should have the choice of whether to and the manner in which their personal data is captured. In fact, though, obtaining actual permission could prove difficult. Few people have any idea of all the possible consequences of data collection and what might happen to their own data. Second, permission forms are usually long and complex, making it hard for people to make informed decisions. To begin to overcome these barriers, individuals need to have greater control over their data through simpler, more open permission processes.
The Viewpoint of Business on Data Ownership
The Importance of Data to Enterprises
Data is a major asset to any organization because it helps fire the engine of creativity and productive energy, environment to improve client experience. Data is used to define new business models, optimize supply networks, and personalize goods and services. Continued proprietary access to the data a company captures is therefore something that most companies are loath to relinquish. However, the conversation about data ownership is heating up, and there is pressure on companies to adopt data practices that are fairer and more transparent.
Juggling Privacy and Profit
Privacy vs. profit is one of the key hurdles enterprises have to traverse. Data is vital for competitiveness and development but companies must respect people’s rights to privacy and data ownership. And they serve companies, which need to establish ethical data practices: cookie-cutting third-party consent, collecting only what it needs and safeguarding it from breaches. Companies should also know how the use of that data is impacting people and society, and work to mitigate any negative impacts.
Data Governance’s Function
The organizational framework for businesses to control data ownership, security, and privacy is called data governance. They have to create the rules on how to collect, store, and use data that will comply with legislative, regulatory and other mandates. This is what we call good data governance. By having robust data governance processes, companies are in a better standing to protect the individual’s rights related to the ownership of their data, whilst being able to charge for using it and developing the confidence and trust of their customers. Good data governance might also help companies avoid expensive data breaches and legal penalties.
Effects of Data Ownership on People and Society
- People’s Connection to Data
From ways people might financially benefit from their digital identity to privacy risks, data ownership impacts on the lives of people in different ways. The average internet user in our contemporary age produces staggering amounts of data on a regular basis, often without them even knowing. And you know, this is digital footprint, whether is browsing, positioning and well is biological information from things like fitness bands. But for many, the question of ownership remains open to debate. Most people sign away their rights —without reading, and without knowledge of the long-term repercussions — the complex terms and conditions of service. People who do not directly own their sensitive data are often exposed to hacks, abuse, and exploitation. Despite this, the financial and mental toll of cybersecurity risks like identity theft and personal data misuse is often large. Beyond the concrete effects of this data — illustrated by the Assange headline — there are increasing ethical concerns about the data being used to build profiles of people and then using those profiles to influence their decisions through targeted advertisements or even shape their online experiences through “filter bubbles,” which prevent them from seeing a diverse range of information. - The Significance of Data Ownership in Social Inequality
The debate on data ownership also has implications for social injustice. Those who understand how data is collected or who can pay for data privacy solutions find themselves in a much better position to protect themselves. It is often the vulnerable, those with poorer digital literacy, or those living in areas that information is not well regulated, that are exploited by the organisations, corporations/providers. All of these result in an increasing digital rights gap that disenfranchises and leaves individuals and communities more vulnerable in the online world. Discriminatory pricing and biased algorithms in industries from banking to health care to job hiring have kept disadvantaged people socially, economically and sometimes physically behind, which this uneven power dynamic has repeated. In addition, these groups produce an disproportional amount of data through digital surveillance systems, but have the least ownership or reap any economic reward from that data, rather.
The Data’s Economic Worth
- Profiting from Personal Data
This question of ownership over your personal data is a hotly contested one in the data ownership question — and the commercialisation of these assets. The trillion-dollar empires of big tech companies are built, in large part, on data-driven advertising practices that rely on collecting data about users so that they can be shaped into rich profiles that can then be sold to marketers. This has raised some quite troubling ethical questions regarding whether people should even be compensated for their data in the first place. If they really are the “ pro·duc·ers” of such data, people should get paid for their life-sustaining data. The notion that individuals deserve payment for their data spurred proposals for data dividend schemes, a mechanism by which people are compensated for companies profiting off their personal information. All of this is logical but in practical terms, how do you assign a value to different types of data similar to the way currencies are measured, calculated and exchanged. - Currency of Data
A newer concept is that data = currency. In exchange for access to that data, companies may be offering free services. Platforms such as social media, search engines, and apps, for instance, are free to use, their revenue depends primarily on users’ data. A fair trade may mean helpful for both – however corporations always tend to benefit more than the donor. Users “pay” much more than they realize by revealing much more valuable data than is given by the free services. And this translates into a terrifying social phenomenon, because we already have a new economy where you are implicitly expected to trade parts of your life to access digital tools and services. without proper protections in place, individuals are left with the unenviable choice of continually giving up privacy for convenience and with little control over who gets to use or profit from their information.
Emerging Technologies and Data Ownership
- Digital ownership of data and blockchain
Blockchain technology allows us to completely re-imagine data ownership and transforms how we control our own data. Unlike traditional centralized methods, where businesses hold and control the data, blockchain allows individuals to securely store and share their data while also having more control on who can access it. This decentralized paradigm takes care of user control by allowing users to ‘own’ their data and grant access to entities when needed. In this model, individuals could maintain “data vaults” to store anything from medical information to social media exchanges. Then, to ensure control over who views or uses their data, they could give companies or organizations temporary access to specific pieces of information. This paradigm offers an extra level of safety and transparency over existing traditional systems. However, the pathway to utility, scale and accessibility for blockchain tech for data ownership is a long one with many hurdles still to clear. - Data Dependency, AI, and Machine Learning
The performance of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) systems demands large datasets as an essential ingredient. AI systems analyze personal data to predict outcomes, recommend actions, or make decisions in a wide array of fields, including criminal justice, economics and health care. But these platforms also raise critical questions around things like privacy, ownership and the responsible use of data. For instance, if a healthcare AI tool develops a therapy algorithm using a patient’s medical records, who owns the results of that process? Ownership of the data — the company that built the AI model owns the data, or does the person still retain some ownership? Additionally, the dependence of these AI models on personal data can lead to a potential breach of privacy, more so if sensitive data is at stake. These concerns are only going to become ever more crucial in writing the laws regulating data ownership and AI ethics as the AI finds its way into more and more of everyday life.
Regulations Regarding Data Ownership and Privacy
- Global Data Protection and GDPR Movements
One of the most robust laws regulating data ownership and privacy is the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It mandates that individuals will have the right to see how their data is being used, ask for it to be deleted and access their data. That’s because individuals now have more control over their personal information, as it also requires that businesses obtain direct consent before collecting data. GDPR influenced such laws globally, including California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA); and Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (LGPD). Despite being intended to empower individuals over data ownership, these laws also highlight the challenges in enforcing data rights globally. Although GDPR, for example, applies only to individuals living in Europe, multinational corporations regularly have users worldwide, making compliance a challenge. - Gathering Innovation and Regulation in Harmony
Another key challenge with data ownership laws is finding the balance between protecting privacy while also demanding innovation. While strict regulation can at times stifle creativity and delay product development, data-driven innovation is necessary for technological progress. We do need to come up with a happy medium that allows businesses to innovate and grow while protecting individuals’ right to privacy and data ownership. For example, anonymization procedures can allow businesses to analyze massive datasets without compromising the privacy of individuals. However, a key obstacle comes from the growing sophistication of re-identification techniques that cross-reference anonymous data with other data to expose individuals. As technology continues to advance, laws relating to data ownership must also evolve to meet this ever-changing landscape between invention and privacy.
The Ownership of Data in the Future
Decentralized Data Ownership Models’ Ascent
As the conversation continues on data ownership, new approaches to data ownership are emerging that are designed to empower people over their data. One example of a new shape of sharing is decentralized data ownership, which harnesses the power of blockchain to enable individuals to own and control their information. Individuals can store their information on a blockchain in a decentralized manner and provide access as necessary. Individuals will have a greater level of input on what happens to their data and could even profit from its use by electronic distributors, either as a sellable asset to a business or as currency to off-set service charges.
Artificial Intelligence’s Function in Data Ownership
More generally, the debate over what really belongs to who is increasingly being reshaped by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI): And because AI algorithms require massive amounts of data to function, that brings up questions of data ownership and privacy. As AI is increasingly made use of, clear rules on data collection and usage and ownership need to be imposed. This means ensuring that people have control over their data, and that AI systems are designed with ethical and privacy considerations in mind.
Global Data Ownership Standards Are Necessary
As data crosses borders, building the right global data ownership regulations are increasingly needed. Currently, ownership of data is governed by different national and local rules, which create holes in protection as well as inconsistencies. Global standards would offer a level playing field for data ownership, ensuring the protection of people’s rights no matter where their data is collected or held. Moreover, global standards would facilitate collaboration between nations on data security and privacy, which could contribute to solving data ownership issues in an ever increasingly connected world.
Data ownership is a complex issue that is both ethical and legal and commercial. As our lives become increasingly digitised, the question of who owns our data is becoming increasingly pressing. The legal protections that exist today do offer some semblance of protection, but there is an increasing recognition that individuals require more control over their digital footprint.
“That means new models of data ownership that empower individuals and more visible data processes and expanded rights around data ownership. That is, businesses need to balance the need for data-driven innovation against their rights to privacy and the ownership of data. Considering the current conversations surrounding data ownership, we need a fairer framework that protects people’s rights and rewards virtuous behavior with regards to data usage in our digital community.”