What do you want your data to do for you? A data objective is a goal that guides choices about how your data is offered, combined, priced, or made available. The goal might be to earn money, support work you value, or prevent uses you oppose. Choosing one starts with a more personal question: which of your values and needs should your data serve? section 8.6 section 8.6.3
In the envisioned system, you would set a primary objective in an account with a DI, a data company that helps manage and offer your data. If your priority were revenue, the DI would assess prices for individual data elements and for combinations. For example, combining online and in-store grocery purchases could give a more complete picture of your spending. The objective tells the DI what you want to achieve; the grouping and pricing are ways it might pursue that goal. section 8.6.2
One objective need not govern every use of your data. You could set different terms for different purposes:
- Support disease research with genetic-sequencing data while expressing a preference between work on a treatment and work on a possible cure. section 8.6.3
- Limit access by company or region, or allow broad use of transaction data without a fee. section 8.6.3
- Arrange for use by a chosen clean-water charity to trigger a payment from your DI account. section 8.7
Objectives can change as your needs and life stage change. You might add, remove, or revise them rather than make one permanent choice. Working out how your values translate into data settings may take thought; DIs are envisioned as helping with that work. The practical starting point is to decide what matters to you before deciding who may use which data, on what terms. section 8.6 section 8.6.2
