Now That DDP is a Year Old, What's Next?

Team DDP -

Now That DDP is a Year Old, What's Next?

The June 2020 launch of The Data Dividend Project marked the beginning of a new era--for the first time, consumers had newly enacted data privacy rights, and could use “authorized agents” to help exercise those rights.

What does that mean? More specifically, how do we achieve our goal of helping DDP members take control of their data and get paid if they choose to share their data?

The Past, The Present, and The Future of Your Data

DDP’s Mission can be viewed in the Past, the Present, and the Future.

Helping to Get You Money for PAST Misuse/Abuse of Your Data

We are all familiar with the problem by now: Big Tech has failed Americans on at least two fronts. First, Big Tech neglected to obtain your consent before collecting your data. Second, once they had your data, they failed to properly protect it from bad actors.

For these past misuses and abuses of your data, consumer advocates and lawyers are fighting for and reaching settlements with Big Tech. Part of our mission is to keep you informed of these cash settlements so that you can collect your fair share (i.e., the Yahoo settlement, the Facebook Illinois Biometric Privacy settlement, the Google Plus settlement, and the Experian settlement).

More of these data privacy settlements are in the pipeline awaiting court approval (such as the pending $92 million TikTok settlement). There are also other data privacy cases currently being litigated, including a $5 billion case against Google. However, to claim your fair share, you must know whether you qualify and submit your claim before the deadline. We are here to provide you with that crucial information.

Stopping the PRESENT Collection, Sale, and Sharing of Your Data

While we’re fighting to get you compensation for past data abuses, we also seek to help you in the present--by preventing Big Tech and Data Brokers from continuing their current practice of collecting, selling, and using your data without your consent.

How? By acting as your “authorized agent” to opt you out under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the upcoming California Privacy Rights Act/Prop 24 (CPRA).

DDP recently launched a pilot program with 300 California volunteers to test opt out rights from Data Brokers en masse. We will keep you posted on the results of this pilot, as well as our plan to move towards “data strikes.”

Helping to Build a FUTURE where Data Dividends are a Reality

All of DDP’s actions are intended to build a future where “data dividends” become a reality. In that vein, DDP will continue to:

  • Advocate in courts for your rights. For example, a federal court recently ruled that all Americans have personal property rights in their own data. Your data should be yours!
  • Encourage more States to pass strong data privacy laws; for example, in November 2020, California passed Prop. 24 and Virginia passed a similar law in March 2021.
  • Negotiate licensing deals for the collection, use, sharing, and sale of your data,so that you can get a percentage of the proceeds if you choose to share your data.
  • Find and promote “privacy by design” tech companies, some of whom are already paying out “data dividends.”
  • Support a growing ecosystem of nonprofits (like The Data Union, Consumer Reports, and Radical xChange) so that we can all build a better data future together, where everyone has “data dignity.”

We are so grateful for all your support this past year. Together, we can start a movement so large that Big Tech and Data Brokers cannot afford to ignore us!

Get your friends and family to join DDP!

The DDP Team