Data ownership is one of those ideas that sounds radical until you look at the numbers. Every app you use, every search you run, every purchase you make generates data that someone else profits from. Ontology explored the scale of this problem earlier this week, and the figures are staggering. The phrase “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product” has been repeated so often it has lost its edge. But the underlying reality has not changed. Your data is valuable, and the only person not making money from it is you.
It doesn’t have to be.
The Value You Create Every Single Day
Right now, every moment you spend online generates data. Your morning scroll through social media, every search query, how long you pause on certain content, your fitness data, your gaming history, what you buy and when you buy it. This data has tremendous value. Companies spend billions annually to acquire it, analyse it, and use it to shape what you see, what you want, and what you buy.
You’ve never seen a pound of that value.
The platforms you use extract this data for free. They’ve built entire business models around it. Your engagement funds their infrastructure. Your behaviour patterns train their algorithms. Your personal details become their inventory. And the benefit flows in one direction: outward, away from you.
What Data Ownership Actually Looks Like
Data ownership isn’t some abstract concept. It has specific, tangible implications.
First, control. You decide who sees what. If a company wants access to your data, you grant it. If you want to revoke it, you do. Under frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you already have the legal right to access and delete your data. But legal rights and practical control are not the same thing. Your information shouldn’t be locked into a silo controlled by a platform; it should be genuinely yours to manage.
Second, transparency. You see who accesses your data, when, and why. No hidden algorithms deciding what happens to your information in the dark. You can audit the relationships, understand the purpose, and make informed decisions.
Third, compensation. When someone uses your data, you get paid. Not indirectly. Not in the form of a “free service.” Directly. A company needs your anonymised behavioural data to improve their product; they pay you for it. Your data works for you.
Your Digital Identity Is Scattered. It Doesn’t Have to Be.
Here’s another reality that most people don’t pause to consider: your identity is fragmented across dozens of platforms. Your login credentials live on this service. Your reputation, built painstakingly over years, is locked into that one. Your purchase history, your review history, your social connections, your professional credentials; all scattered.
None of which you actually control. Each platform owns a slice of who you are.
Imagine consolidating that. Your credentials, your reputation, your history, your preferences; all in one place that belongs to you. Portable. Verifiable. Able to move with you across the web without needing permission from any single gatekeeper. You become the authoritative source of your own identity. Services can verify that you’re trustworthy without needing to lock you in.
The Infrastructure Already Exists
This isn’t science fiction. The technological foundations are already being built. Decentralised identity standards mean your credentials can exist independently of any platform. Reputation systems can prove you’re credible without revealing your personal details. Trust layers allow this to function at scale, securely and efficiently.
What we’re seeing now is the shift from infrastructure to adoption. From technical possibility to user experience. From “this could work” to “this is how people actually own their digital lives.” Meanwhile, the cost of data breaches continues to climb, reinforcing why the current model of centralised data storage is unsustainable.
From Product to Owner
The shift from “you are the product” to “you are the owner” isn’t a small one. It rewires the relationship between you and the services you use.
Your data doesn’t get extracted anymore. It works for you. Your identity doesn’t get scattered across platforms. It belongs to you. Your reputation isn’t held hostage by an algorithm. It follows you.
This isn’t about rejecting the digital world. It’s about changing who’s in control of it.
The question isn’t whether data ownership becomes the norm. It’s whether you’re early or late.
Follow ONTO Wallet to see what data ownership looks like.
