Building Data Castles

I am amazed at how well inCorporated algorithms know me, how fast they pick up a new trend or idea. The way they can touch my buttons whether to engage my outrage, get me to watch a cat video, nail my particular vices, or sell me an electronic gadget. And that bothers me. Personal data is valuable property. ("According to the National Data Protection Act, the average value of a US resident’s personal information ranges between $2,000 and $3,000 per year.") Each of us produces a wealth of it throughout our lives. Most of it is wheedled out of us in exchange for the glass beads of digital trinkets of our web-based lives. Giving away our data has been normalized as a natural part of our web routine. And that data can be sliced, diced, probed, packaged, sold and resold to manipulate us. What if you asserted your right to control your own data, where you could sell packaged parts of personal data without revealing your name, phone, email, etc., retaining your anonymity and shielding yourself from manipulation by overlords. What if you could sell you health data for social or scientific advancements anonymously? That alone might, over time, be enough to pay your rent, buy a house, provide a guaranteed base income, while contributing a legacy for the social good. We have the tools and materials. It just has to be built. If “a man's home is his castle”, then beyond Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” surely we have the unalienable right to maintain secure private access and control to all of the treasure vault of our own Personal Data.