🧠 Who Owns Me Now? Thinking Through Data Ownership & Datafication in a Digital World

It’s strange to think about how much of me exists online. Not just my photos or social media posts, but my clicks, searches, steps, sleep patterns, even how long I pause on a video. All of it is collected, stored, analyzed, and—most importantly—owned.

🧱 What Is Datafication Anyway?

Datafication refers to the process of turning human behaviors and interactions into quantifiable data. Think of how Spotify tracks your mood via playlists, or how Fitbits monitor your body like a walking dashboard. As Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier describe in their work on the data revolution, this process promises “insight” but often at the cost of context—and consent.

Our class resource from the World Economic Forum on Data Ownership really opened my eyes to how data ownership is still a fuzzy concept. Who actually owns the data: the person it’s about, or the company collecting it? Legally, it’s often the latter. Ethically? That’s where things get messy.

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⚖️ Philosophical + Cultural Reflections

The idea that my data might not belong to me feels… wrong. But it’s more than personal—it’s political.

In Indigenous communities, for example, data ownership ties directly to cultural survival. The First Nations Principles of OCAP® (Ownership, Control, Access, Possession) challenge mainstream models by asserting collective rights over data, not just individual ones. Data isn’t just information—it’s identity, heritage, and power.

In contrast, our dominant tech systems operate on what Ruha Benjamin calls the “engineered inequality” of surveillance capitalism. Her book Race After Technology explores how datafication reinforces bias, especially against racialized groups—like predictive policing or biased algorithms in hiring.

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📚 What Does This Mean for Education?

In the classroom, we use platforms like Google Workspace, Canvas, Brightspace, or ClassDojo. But how often do we stop to ask: where is student data going? Who’s profiting from it? What’s the cost of “free” tools?

Educators need to treat data literacy as a critical part of digital citizenship. This includes:

• Teaching students how data is collected and monetized
• Exploring tools with better data ethics (like Nextcloud or Mastodon)
• Discussing real-world cases (like the Edmodo data breach that affected millions of student accounts)

Imagine a lesson plan where students map their digital footprint, then explore who controls that data—and who should.

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💬 Let’s Rethink What We Click “Agree” To

This isn’t a call to delete everything and live off-grid (tempting, but unrealistic). It’s about being aware—and pushing for better systems.

After reading Jesse’s blog on algorithmic bias in education and Leila’s post on personal data futures, I’m realizing that data ownership is the civil rights issue of our time. And datafication isn’t neutral—it reflects the values of the people and systems behind it.

So maybe the question isn’t just “Who owns our data?”
It’s: “Who decides what it’s worth—and to whom?”

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📎 Resources That Helped Me Think Deeper:

• 🔗 World Economic Forum: What is Data Ownership?
• 🔗 FNIGC: The Principles of OCAP®
• 🔗 Shoshana Zuboff on Surveillance Capitalism
• 🔗 Ruha Benjamin – Race After Technology
• 🔗 Edmodo Data Breach Summary – TechCrunch
• 🔗 Mayer-Schönberger & Cukier on Big Data

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📣 Your Turn

Do you think we should own our data like we own our physical property?
What would ethical data practices look like in schools, healthcare, or government?

Comment below, link your own posts, or tag me in your reflections. Let’s build a better digital future—together.

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