“It seems every news cycle comes with its share of “data gloom”. Just look at lamentations over a “loss of digital sovereignty” (John Thornhill, November 26) or the dismayed unveiling of healthcare websites’ opaque data tracking practices (Rana Foroohar, November 18). The tools we need to empower us, the data subjects, have been hiding in plain sight. They are not technological tools but legal instruments, and stem from the 14th century, from the time of the crusades: trusts. The idea of a data trust is to collectivise individual data rights using trust law. Rather than having a “one size fits all” regulation, each data trust would stipulate its particular approach to personal data management according to the aspirations of its members. By leveraging the negotiation power that comes with the ability to exercise portability, access and erasure rights en masse, data trustees may not only obtain better terms and conditions with service providers. Data trustees would also be able to facilitate data sharing in line with the terms of each trust: while some trusts may prioritise financial returns, others may put more emphasis on social goods (medical research, natural resources use, and so on). Overly focused on the individual, our current legal system is not well equipped to deal with personal data. Personal data are most at risk when isolated. When pooled together, data can become a way of acquiring a political (and economic) voice. Today, there are too few people making the data governance choices that will shape our futures. To change this, we don’t need fancy new tech, we need data trusts.”
https://www.ft.com/content/33926828-16c0-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385
Letter to the Financial Times by Sylvie Delacroix (University of Birmingham, Alan Turing Institute) and Neil Lawrence (University of Cambridge)