"The essence of the exploitation here is the rendering of our lives as behavioral data for the sake of others’ improved control of us."
– Soshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
The last 20 years of the internet have been about exploiting user data as a cheap fuel for innovation. But like cheap carbon fuels, we are seeing the externalities pile up in economic disparity and immoral market incentives – running counter to many of the initial goals that set us on this course. Re-Public aims to get global co-operation and innovation back on track by coupling the market value of data with the people who create it.
"Our data is being monetized, just not by us. The insane revenues and market caps of today's top tech companies could be distributed among all their users if those users had the tools to aggregate, pool, and find buyers for their own data."
While there is growing concern over the misues of personal data, most decision makers and consumers are blinded by the red herring that is Privacy. The real problem is that people are being robbed of thousands of dollars in market value for their data, simply because the tools do not exist for them to sell it. Privacy will be reinstated when there are real market costs to using people's data without consent. Re-Public does not focus on Privacy because it is not possible in the current environment. All your data is already out there. We need to establish a concrete dollar amount for everyone's data that is being stolen by predatory tech companies. Only then will courts and policies wake up to the breadth of exploitation that's taking place.
"We have yet to invent the politics and new forms of collaborative action that effectively assert the people’s right to a human future."
– Soshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
It's hard to grasp that the data that has allowed us to be treated as inhuman nodes in an extractive economy could actually be the path towards a more human future. But it's true. Once people are empowered to accrue the monetary value of the data they create, so many of the inequalities that seem intractable start to reverse themselves. Everyone on earth suddenly has a valuable asset that the market needs. Data autonomy circumvents many barriers that seem insurmountable today and simply makes them irrelevant. No government, company, or organization can put a stop to the vast decentralization that is already happening. Re-Public simply aims to accelerate the process.
Right now you may have some data being collected, but almost all of it is in the hands of the companies that creat the devices and apps you use. Re-Public puts that data in your hands.
We need to stop thinking of data as something that is created, used, and thrown away. Data is forever. Re-Public makes sure you always have the original copy.
You should decide who gets to use your data, how they can use it, and for how long. The data misuse lawsuits are coming. Re-Public prepares you for the legal shifts that are on the way.
Individuals cannot get paid for their data because they can't find buyers, and they can't bundle their data with others' to make a valuable dataset. Re-Public takes care of both problems so you can sit back and get paid.