Who should control the data created by your searches, purchases, movements, and online activity? A data union offers a collective answer: people join together to govern, manage, share, and monetize their personal data. section 4.0 section 6.7
The idea responds to a data economy in which companies often control information and benefit financially from it. Data unions move bargaining power toward individuals by creating organizations that must serve their members’ interests and return value to them. section 4.0 section 6.7
A data union can:
- Aggregate members’ data so it can be shared, analyzed, or licensed collectively. section 6.7
- Negotiate with data buyers and distribute returns to members, while operators may receive a portion of sales. section 6.7
- Create accountable stewardship through fiduciary duties and rules intended to prevent intermediaries from exploiting members’ data. section 6.7
From cooperative model to operating infrastructure
Data intermediaries are compared with cooperatives or credit unions: members pool their data, while an intermediary manages transactions on their behalf. The EU Data Governance Act supports such intermediaries, and Pool is described as providing infrastructure and a marketplace for data unions to scale, query, analyze, and license data products. section 6.7
A data union is therefore more than a shared database. It is an institutional arrangement for turning individual data rights into collective negotiating power, provided that governance remains transparent and aligned with members’ interests. section 4.0 section 6.7
