Controlling your own data: why control matters and how to get it back
Freedom from Big Tech is within reach
Knowledge is power. And data is the new oil: the commodity underpinning economic prosperity. Yet sharing knowledge is vital for innovation. Between those sometimes conflicting observations, questions arise about how we can keep control of what data is shared with whom, and why.
Powerful data collectors
Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Uber, Amazon and Microsoft are all huge and powerful data collectors. And not one of them is based in the EU, even though they process vast amounts of data about European people and enterprises. That data earns large amounts of money for the companies that collect it; money that is not necessarily used for the benefit of the data sharers. Mass data collection provides the Big Tech corporations with unique insight into our behaviour and activities. Insight they can use to predict, influence and monetise what we do. And that is a matter of growing concern to the European Commission. Indeed, our very sovereignty could be at risk; our right to self-determination, that fundamental principle of European law, which affords the EU's member states, enterprises and citizens the maximum possible scope for free and independent decision-making. It follows that tech platforms should not be free to use our data for their own advantage.
Sovereign European data infrastructure
But how do we achieve that goal? The protection of data sovereignty is a highly dynamic field. In 2020, we saw the formation of GAIA-X: a public-private partnership – which the Netherlands has since joined – dedicated to the development of a sovereign European data infrastructure. GAIA-X will probably follow the more mature, tested model of the International Data Space Association (IDSA). The recently published paper The Design Principles for Data Spaces provides a sort of manual for the development of a data infrastructure to serve European business. The challenge now is to get large corporations and, crucially, SMEs to use it. In short, various constructive developments are in progress with a view to protecting the European business community against Big Tech.
Disposable identities
And what about EU citizens? How can we be protected? To a significant extent, we need to protect ourselves. We need to be much more aware of all the information we're sharing with the Big Tech corporations. It can sometimes seem that we have no choice but to create yet another account or to log in using Facebook or Google when we want to shop online. Happily, however, solutions to that problem are emerging too. A good example is the rise of disposable identities. Tools are now available that enable you to make purchases using disposable e-mail addresses and virtual credit cards. Virtual credit card services let you generate and use a unique dummy card number each time you shop, so you never have to share the real one.
Taking control of your personal data
Such solutions are neat and can certainly play a role in online shopping. However, they're not the answer for everyone. Again, what's needed is new standards for managing and sharing one's own personal data. It's therefore encouraging to see Solid, the solution devised by internet pioneer Tim Berners Lee, gaining popularity, and the market for self-sovereign identity (SSI) apps growing rapidly. Against that background, both the Dutch government and the European Commission have defined conditions that such apps must meet. As a result, you'll soon be able to use them to log in with the tax service, your local authority or a health care provider. SSI apps enable you to manage your own personal data and the way you share it, instead of being reliant on Facebook, Google or DigiD. Take the Dutch-developed IRMA app. If an online service provider supports IRMA login, you'll be able to access the service without a Facebook or Google ID and without an account. You keep control of your own data and decide for yourself what info you share, with whom and why.
Solution is within our grasp
We're not yet free of the Big Tech platforms, but freedom is within reach. Much will depend on the willingness of European enterprises and citizens to accept responsibility for grasping the solutions and collectively asserting our sovereignty.
IRMA powered by SIDN
In order to help online service providers and businesses take on that responsibility, we're investing in IRMA. IRMA is an SSI-based digital identity platform, consisting of a smartphone app that people can use to manage their own data, plus an open-source solution that enables online service providers to let users log in with IRMA. IRMA also has a range of features for improving the customer journey and streamlining identification processes, while also meeting the highest privacy and security standards.
