Data is not the new oil. It is the new cotton, sugar, timber and coal. These sectors grew on the backs of slaves kidnapped from Africa and first forced on to Virginia’s shores in 1619. Four hundred years later our data is enslaved. Our data is captured and processed as it is created, from birth, and immediately indentured to click-wrapped terms and conditions which we never bother to read before accepting. We are segregated into classes and faces, places and races. Who we are in the real and digital worlds is not our property. The most modern slave is whom you see in a mirror. [..]
I want a world where children are not born into slavery. This means that they must own and control their physical selves and their digital identities. Even if their bodies are trapped within borders, their avatars must be global citizens with basic rights to own their data and an ability to freely exchange it. I created Bluenumber to help this happen. Thanks to all those who are working for people to own their own data and identity. We’re nearly there.
A Most Modern Slavery by Puvan J Selvanathan, Chief Executive at Bluenumber