ABOUT the Data Dividend Project

About The Data Dividend Project

The Data Dividend Project is dedicated to taking back control of our personal data: our data is our property, and if we decide to share it with companies, we should get our fair share. Its primary objective is to establish and enforce data property rights under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect on January 1, 2020.

Every day, people are generating data simply by going about the business of living in an ever connected and digital world. Unbeknownst to most people, technology companies are tracking their every move online, extracting this data, and then buying and selling it for big money. The sale and resale of consumer data is called data brokering, which is itself a $200 billion industry.

For example, technology companies can extract location data from your mobile phone and sell it to advertisers who can then turn around and post local ads to you in real time. Until recently, the data collector – in this case, the technology company - was deemed to own the data. As the owner, the technology company could sell that data and profit handsomely. Meanwhile, you generated the data but received no share of those profits. DDP plans to change that.

Until this year, you, as the American consumer, had little recourse against technology companies who were profiting off your data without your consent or knowledge. Now, under the CCPA, Californians are endowed with a collection of unalienable data rights: the right to know what information is being collected on you, the right to delete that information, and the right to opt-out from technology companies collecting your data. These rights, however, are ignored and abused by technology companies. And unfortunately, individual consumers don’t have the leverage to be able to go up against these companies. That’s where DDP comes in.

DDP is building a movement of Americans who are fed up with technology companies taking advantage of them and who have collectively decided to take a stand. By signing up with DDP, you give us the ability to collectively advocate for your data rights and your right to be compensated for the use of YOUR data, which is YOUR property. With a critical mass of all Americans demanding their fair share, technology companies will no longer be able to get away with hoarding the gains made off your data.

Individually, we’re powerless to stand up to big technology companies. Together, however, we can regain what is rightfully ours. Join the movement.

What The Data Dividend Project Believes

The Data Dividend Project is here to serve you. The DDP was borne out of the belief - that every American ought to be a shareholder of the richest country in the history of the world. The belief that every American is entitled to share in the gains of the large tech companies that profit off the use of their data. DDP is here to help you reclaim your data rights and recoup the gains that are rightfully yours.

The DDP is here to fight for humanity and for what you are rightfully entitled to: your data-as-your-property rights and the ability to control its use. DDP is an organization designed to educate and mobilize consumers to collectively exercise their legal data rights. We will always choose dialogue and negotiation before antagonism and litigation.

DDP is not a political organization. It is a human movement to bring data rights back to the people. DDP seeks to recover the money that was made off of your data and to give it back to you--plain and simple. We will propose what is fair to our community, and members have the right to opt-out of deals or decide to remain in. You may quit DDP or opt-out of deals at any time, but we hope that you stay. We believe that the more the movement grows, the greater the dividends and benefits will be.

  1. We believe that ownership and control of your data is a fundamental human right.
  2. We believe that your data - then, now, and always - has value.
  3. We believe in dialogue and negotiation over antagonism and litigation.
  4. We will continue to fight for you until every American has their data rights.
  5. We believe that data is not a political issue but a human issue.
  6. We believe in educating the world about how data can be used for societal good, and how it has and can be used for the opposite end.
  7. We believe that corporations should be able to use your data but you should fully understand how they’re using it so you can make an informed choice on whether to share your data or not.
  8. We believe that corporations should compensate you for the money they’ve made from your data in the past, and if you decide to continue sharing your data, should compensate you for the future for data you will produce.
  9. We believe that data and technology should serve humanity, not the other way around.
  10. We believe that data needs to be as secure as your money.