Andrew Yang wants people to get paid for the data they create on big tech platforms like Facebook and Google, and with the Data Dividend Project launching on Monday, he believes he can make it happen.
Andrew Yang used to be the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, appointed by Barack Obama in 2015. He works as an lawyer, and entrepreneur, and often appears as political commentator.
The program revolves around Californian regulation, that apparently recognizes “Data as a property”, making information originating from an individual it’s ownership. (IANAL, though…). Both The Verge and the webpage refer specifically to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the Data Dividend’s task to establish likewise regulation across the country.
Data Dividend Project, My Data, My Money.
It’s like Universal Basic Income, but with your Data.
While the idea appears to be appealing and brings a new spin to the debate of Big Tech and Big Data, signing up with not only one but many emails gives the approach some taste 😉
Big Tech is indeed earning Big Money and for the consumer there often nothing left but being the product. The situation led to numerous discussions in the European Union before, that is much more sensitive to data and privacy for historical reasons. While GDPR addresses lot’s of concerns, data ownership and charging for usage is an entirely different concept, that, to my knowledge, has never been demanded with this emphasis before. Paying the user for allowing Big Tech to run their business models would change the entire game. Fundamentally.