The Internet has become largely unintelligible for regular users of the space. The challenge is that it is impossible to connect, communicate, and collaborate with others without digital texts and tools.
As we engage online, we leave bits of our personal data strewn across the Internet without a full understanding of what, why, and how this information is being used. If we fully understood what was happening to our data, we would care more and do something about it.
But…what should we do?
In an earlier post, I started up some work around the development of an Internet Bill of Rights. This is even more important as we have questions about the rights, freedoms, and literacy in digital spaces.
In A New Tech Manifesto, Baratunde Thurston expands this argument by providing six points for restoring some balance and trust between the tech companies that are shaping the future and we the people.
- Offer Real Transparency Around Data Collection and Usage
- Change Data Defaults from Open to Closed
- Respect Our Right to Our Own Data
- Diversify Who’s At the Table
- Implement New Laws and New Rules
- Enable Users to Collect and Analyze Our Own Data
Thurston explains more in the following video.
Want to contribute more? Thurston concludes:
Imagine it. Now let’s go build it.
Do you want to expand on this draft manifesto? Contribute to this open source Google Doc with additional principles/demands, resources, and examples of progress being made.
Photo by fabio on Unsplash
