Limited Connectivity #1 -Your Data Isn’t Yours—But It Should Be

Big Tech Gets Rich Off Your Digital Life—You Get a Free Email Account. Seems Fair.

The Fight for Digital Ownership in the 21st Century

Every time you unlock your phone, scroll through a feed, or tap “Accept” on a pop-up, someone is collecting your data.

Right now, there are hundreds—maybe thousands—of companies tracking everything about you, building a profile that dictates what you see, what you buy, even how much you pay for insurance or a loan.

You don’t see it happening, but your digital shadow is being sold for billions.

And you get nothing.

This isn’t just about privacy—privacy is the distraction.

The real issue is ownership.

You wouldn’t accept a world where a corporation could claim your paycheck because they processed it first. You wouldn’t accept a world where a bank could confiscate your savings because they “helped you store it.”

Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening with your personal data.

The legal system treats your digital life as corporate property, not an individual right.

That needs to change.

This isn’t just a regulatory problem—it’s an economic and political crisis. Data isn’t just information. It’s power. Economic power. Political power. The ability to control narratives, manipulate markets, and even shape reality.

The only way forward is to recognize personal data as a constitutional right and a protected asset.

And here’s why.

Your Digital Life is a Corporate Asset

You don’t own your online identity. Legally, it belongs to corporations.

Your likes, your purchases, your conversations—they don’t belong to you. They belong to companies that track you, analyze you, and sell your profile to the highest bidder.

Think that sounds dramatic? Consider this:

• The global data economy is worth over $3 trillion annually—larger than the GDP of the UK.

• Facebook makes over $150 per user per year from data tracking alone—more than most oil-rich countries make per citizen in revenue.

• The digital advertising industry, powered by personal data, is worth $400 billion annually.

Your digital life is being extracted and monetized at an industrial scale.

And you get nothing.

This isn’t an economic accident. It’s deliberate.

Every major tech company has built its business model on ensuring that users generate value, but never capture it.

Google, Meta, Amazon, and thousands of data brokers treat your personal life as their asset—because legally, it is.

And unless something changes, that’s never going to stop.

The Legal System is Stuck in the 18th Century

In 1787, when the U.S. Constitution was written, personal property was tangible. The law evolved to protect things you could physically hold—your land, your house, your money.

But the law has never caught up to the digital world.

The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable search and seizure. The Fifth Amendment protects your property from being taken without due process.

But what about the data that defines you?

The Supreme Court has started moving in the right direction:

• Carpenter v. United States (2018): The Court ruled that law enforcement must obtain a warrant to access cell phone location data.

• Riley v. California (2014): The Court held that police cannot search a smartphone without a warrant, because it contains “a digital record of nearly every aspect of a person’s life.”

These rulings hint at something revolutionary:

Digital data is personal property, and it deserves constitutional protection.

But the legal system still allows corporations to extract, sell, and manipulate your data without consent.

That loophole needs to close.

The Internet Is a Right, Not a Luxury

Some people will say: "If you don’t like it, just stop using the internet."

That’s a garbage argument.

The internet isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.

• Schools require it for education. A child today can’t participate in public education without an internet connection.

• Job applications, banking, healthcare, government services—all digital.

• Even public assistance programs like food stamps and unemployment benefits require online access.

Telling someone to “just stop using the internet” is like telling them to “just stop using roads” because they don’t like tolls.

The digital world isn’t optional. Access is a right.

So if the internet is a necessity, why are corporations allowed to extract wealth from it without compensating the people generating that wealth?

The Economics of Free Labor

If data is the most valuable commodity on Earth, why are individuals locked out of the economy they create?

Because the system is designed to extract labor without compensation.

• Meta’s entire business model depends on behavioral data.

• Google’s revenue is built on analyzing your searches, emails, and location history.

• Data brokers like Acxiom hold thousands of data points on you—selling them repeatedly without your knowledge.

If this were physical labor, we’d call it exploitation.

If this were intellectual property, we’d call it theft.

But because it’s data, we call it “the cost of doing business.”

That’s a lie.

There are already economic models that would allow users to be paid for their data:

• Data Dividends: Users receive compensation based on the revenue their data generates.

• Data Cooperatives: People pool their data and negotiate collective compensation.

• Universal Basic Data Income (UBDI): People are paid for contributing to the data economy, just as musicians receive royalties.

This isn’t radical. This is inevitable.

The only question is how long individuals are willing to remain digital sharecroppers.

The Next Battle for Civil Rights

Some will argue that data isn’t property—it’s just information.

Those same arguments were used against labor rights, land rights, and intellectual property rights.

Every major rights movement in history—whether economic, political, or civil—has started with individuals demanding control over the value they create.

This is no different.

• The #OwnYourData movement is growing.

• Public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of data rights.

• Governments are starting to recognize the need for change.

But change won’t happen until individuals demand it.

The Solution: A Data Rights Amendment

The fight for data rights will be won the same way every other fundamental right has been won.

Not through industry promises. Not through “ethics committees.” Through laws that force change.

What We Need:

1. A Data Rights Amendment that legally recognizes personal data as a constitutional right.

2. A Decentralized Internet where users own and control their digital identity.

3. Fair Compensation for Data that treats personal information as an economic asset, not a corporate resource.

This isn’t a hypothetical future.

This is the next fight.

Your digital identity is either yours—or it’s a corporate asset.

Right now, it’s not yours.

So….

What Are We Going to Do About It?

I’m starting here. Limited Connectivity is about more than just pointing out the problems—we’re here to connect the dots, expose the system, and build a real path forward.

This week’s topic lays the foundation for what this platform is all about: understanding the game so we can change the rules.

We’re not just passive players in this digital economy. We can fight for data rights, demand better laws, and push for a system where individuals—not corporations—own their digital lives.

So let’s start now. Let’s make the invisible visible.

Because once you see the system, you can’t unsee it. And once you understand how it works, you can start breaking it apart.

Welcome to Limited Connectivity.