How data trusts can protect privacy
Source: MIT Technology Review | By Anouk Ruhaak
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We can’t expect people to navigate the confusing world of data collection on their own. It’s time to join forces.
Why it matters:
Companies and governments have mishandled our data time and again. Data trusts could help us reclaim greater agency over it.
Key players:
Digital Public
Open Data Institute
National governments
European Commission
Do you simply click “Yes” whenever a company asks for your data? If so, you’re not alone. We can’t be expected to read the lengthy terms and conditions or evaluate all the risks every time we use a service. That’s like asking each of us to assess whether the water we drink is safe every time we take a sip. So we hit “Yes” and hope for the best.
Even if you’ve done your research, though, your decision could affect other people in ways you didn’t account for. When you share your DNA with services like 23andMe, that data reveals a lot about your family’s genetic make-up. What you share on social media could influence your friends’ insurance premiums. Your income statements could affect your neighbor’s ability to obtain a loan. Should sharing this information be solely up to you?
This story was part of our March 2021 issue
If this model of individual consent is broken, then what’s left? Should we leave it to our politicians to regulate data collection? Perhaps. Governments around the world have implemented data protection regimes (such as Europe’s GDPR) that force companies to ask for our consent before collecting data. They could go further and prohibit the most harmful uses of data. But given the numerous ways in which data might be collected or used, it’s hard to imagine that broad regulations would be enough.
What if we had something to stand up for our data rights the way a trade union stands up for labor rights?
What if we had something to stand up for our data rights the way a trade union stands up for labor rights? And the data equivalent of a doctor to make smart data decisions on our behalf? Data trusts are one idea for how we could get just that.
Data trusts are a relatively new concept, but their popularity has grown quickly. In 2017, the UK government first proposed them as a way to make larger data sets available for training artificial intelligence. A European Commission proposal in early 2020 floated data trusts as a way to make more data available for research and innovation. And in July 2020, India’s government came out with a plan that prominently featured them as a mechanism to give communities greater control over their data.
In a legal setting, trusts are entities in which some people (trustees) look after an asset on behalf of other people (beneficiaries) who own it. In a data trust, trustees would look after the data or data rights of groups of individuals. And just as doctors have a duty to act in the interest of their patients, data trustees would have a legal duty to act in the interest of the beneficiaries.