Ada Lovelace Institute convenes panel to explore data futures at RightsCon 2020

The Ada Lovelace Institute was delighted to host a panel at RightsCon 2020 – the world’s leading event on human rights in the digital age – on data ownership: Ownership or rights? What’s the path to achieving true agency over data?

Read a summary of the discussion and the main myths and themes to emerge.

Watch the session here:

As part of our Rethinking Data programme we are exploring what the future of data governance could look like and this is a great opportunity to discuss with a global audience the benefits and the limitations around proposals such as property rights for data (see Own Your Own Data Act, Move Humanity Forward and My31) and receiving financial compensation for generated data (see Data Dividend Project, Steamr and Data as Labour).

Our flagship programme, Rethinking Data, is designed to understand how we can change the data governance ecosystem to tackle asymmetries of power, surface the contribution data can make to society, and strengthen data rights and regulation to empower individuals and collectives. At the Ada Lovelace Institute we believe that people should enjoy full agency and control over personal data. To achieve this we must ask:

• What are the issues with data ownership?
• Do property rights offer more protection?
• Is buying and selling data the solution to asymmetries of power?
• What does our data future look like?

This panel aims to debunk the myths around property rights and monetisation of personal data in different global contexts. Speakers bring forward their perspectives on data ownership and spell out the arguments for and against.