Who owns your data?

Abstract

Popular and professional discussions of personal data are often framed in terms of ownership -that human data subjects own the data they emit and share. This framing has implications for consent concepts. Ownership, however, is an inappropriate way to conceive of personal data -in most cases the law does not grant proprietary interests in much of the personal information that makes up the digital economy. This paper explores the question, "Who owns your data?" from policy, business, legal and philosophical viewpoints, arguing that a new discourse is required for people to understand how much control they actually have over their personal information in order to build a stronger foundation for consent within ubiquitous computing systems.

Exploring solutions to the privacy paradox in the context of e-assessment: informed consent revisited

“…The authors propose to place consent "under control of the user, casting the design of systems as a central mechanism by which this should be achieved" (p. 615). Rosner (2014) adds to this discussion by stressing out the importance of shifting control over personal data to the data subject: "The growth of cloud computing […] implies an even greater need to frame informational control in more appropriate terms of rights […] Efforts to shift the value inequality between data sources and collectors are still in their infancy […] An emphasis away from the concept of data ownership towards actual control and rights regimes is essential to re-frame discussion of consent" (p. 628).…”

“…In conclusion, many questions remain unanswered regarding 'how' Rosner 2014): how to accommodate legal requirements for informed consent. This issue of 'how' is further elaborated by drawing on insights gained through usability studies concerning informed consent.…”

Human Data Interaction in Data-Driven Media Experiences : An Exploration of Data Sensitive Responses to the Socio-Technical Challenges of Personal Data Leverage

“…These challenges are trust concerns around black box algorithms and bias, accountability issues on legal, computational and social levels, privacy fears and challenges around transparency and control [54]. These topics, which are much debated in disciplines ranging from digital economy [36] to ethics [46,53] to computer science [59] to recently in media research [55] are now often classified as 'obvious' and yet their prevalence and impact continue to prevail and moreover confront the very adoption of these novel media experiences by the audiences [55]. Here, in order to realise effective responses to these challenges we highlight the need to move from siloed and disparate response measures to holistic, cross-disciplinary and practically realisable response methodologies.…”