Who should decide what happens to data about you? Our Data is a proposed shift from companies stockpiling personal data to individuals and groups accessing, managing, and benefiting from it together. The goal is to move power toward the people whose activities generate the data. section 6.0 section 8.1.1
Open Data offers a starting point: making data available has supported public transparency, software development, and research. Our Data extends that idea toward control over data about people. It also draws on research into how groups manage shared resources for a common good. section 6.0 section 6.10
A shared benefit
Healthcare data donated to a data commons can support research, drug development, and new therapies. It shows one way people’s data can serve a shared purpose rather than remain a resource held by a single company. section 6.10
Making this shift requires more than a change in attitude. Data pools, commons, exchanges, and intermediaries are proposed ways to help people manage data; laws and regulations are developing alongside them. The intended future is one in which you can access, delete, manage, and potentially monetize data about you. That future is still taking shape, so the immediate choice is to understand who controls your data now and what new rights and services may become available. section 6.0 section 6.10 section 6.9
