About This Project

Take Back Your Data is a publication by Roman Belaire arguing that personal data is property and building the legal, economic, and political cases in pursuit of that idea.

Every day, the details of our lives are extracted by platforms, packaged by data brokers, and monetized by advertisers and AI companies. The individuals whose lives generate this data receive nothing in return and have no meaningful say in how it is used.

Much of the rhetorical treatment of data presupposes that it is a natural resource divorced from any identifiable source, but this overlooks the individual's contribution to its value. As a result, the legal and economic frameworks for data privacy and ownership have never properly recognized the individual's claim over their own data, and let us believe that cases like nonconsensual data harvesting are simply contract violations, and not rights abuses. These essays argue for a different starting point, that your data belongs to you the way your labor, property, and body belong to you, and that collective mechanisms (data cooperatives) can facilitate a practical transition towards a fair market.

The project draws on economics, law, political theory, and technology to build a rigorous case for data sovereignty. It is written for a general audience but includes modest technical and theoretical depth in supporting arguments.

The Author

Roman Belaire is a computer scientist focused on AI safety, trust, and transparency. These essays were originally published on Substack.

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