2.2.2. Decommodifying Data: Personal Data Storages, European Data Commons

The value of data relies on aggregation: data becomes more valuable when collected and shared. As a private commodity, data can be used in unaccountable ways, potentially facilitating manipulation, surveillance, and control; however, as a common good, data can contribute much to cooperative and collective purposes.

Data Commons are a way to aggregate data in a safe, anonymised, transparent and democratically controlled way. Data Commons may incorporate a combination of personal data, city open data, public research data and private data. Decommodified data could unlock the power of data-driven technological innovation in the service of common goals and ends — under the direction of public interests rather than private profit.

The main challenge for Data Commons is to create a legal and economic framework in which people want to share their data — and its potential economic value — in a controlled way for the common good. This needs to be backed up by technological solutions that enable the enforcement of rules for data sharing and prevent the misuse of data.

The long-term vision here is the concept of shared personal data with strong democratic governance as a common resource for innovation. Users would host their private data on a Personal Data Storage — a secure location of their choice — and have full control on how to share data and interact with online services. A Personal Data Storage may be – for instance – a decentralised, anonymous and encrypted peer-to-peer-network that takes user data and splits it up into encrypted chunks, which get processed by hundreds of other computers across the network. The crucial aim here is that no raw data is revealed to third parties.

Besides democratic governance, such a European Data Commons needs to ensure democratic ownership of data which is collectively produced. Third parties wishing to use the data would be subject to licensing requirements, taking into account factors such as company size, intended purpose of data processing, and mechanisms to ensure accountability.

The income of the Data Commons would flow into the fund for a universal basic dividend, proposed in DiEM25’s Green New Deal for Europe. Citizens, research institutions, public institutions, small companies and non-profit organisations could all use the Data Commons as their free, common resource.