Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are home to 3.2 billion people, 42% of the world's population. In effect, these countries hold 42% of one of the most valuable resources on the planet: personal data.

BRICS countries are not only increasingly aware that they are the main data producers, they also increasingly understand that free digital services offered by foreign corporations are not really free. They are paid with data and with sovereignty.

Over recent years, digital colonizers launched a true scramble for data, rushing to offer “free” services, designed to be as addictive as possible, to drill as much data as they can out of entire populations that are increasingly seen as potential data wells.

The research my colleagues and I have been conducting at the CyberBRICS Project shows that BRICS countries are increasingly considering data privacy regulations and other digital policies as a tool to curb the power of foreign technology companies and reassert their sovereignty.

Digital sovereignty

The push towards digital sovereignty is frequently criticized as a Trojan horse for authoritarian measures. This is an explanation, but it would be tremendously naïve to think it is the only one.

The past years of scandals have tellingly demonstrated that total reliance on foreign technology can create substantial costs in terms of loss of control over personal data – opening the door to manipulation of people and democracies – and (cyber)security, while also potentially undermining fiscal systems.

The capacity to collect and analyse data massively is not only lucrative. It has become an incredibly strategic asset. The popularisation of “free” social networks, the automation of industry, the advent of the Internet of Things and Smart Cities sound like truly fantastic innovations. But only if smartphone, factories, and all objects and infrastructures do not become tools for hacking, spying, meddling, and draining data out of digitally colonised countries.

As the 2019 BRICS summit unfolded in Brasilia, digital economy, cybersecurity, and cooperation on science, technology and innovation emerged as key issues around which BRICS leaders are building further synergy.

Serious concerns

Half of these five countries' population is already online, contributing significantly to domestic and international economic activity. The countries are working to welcome digital innovation, while sounding an alarm about cybersecurity and personal control of personal data.

The governments are also aware that as more of their people come online, developing countries' national security and even sovereign power may be at risk of hackers and foreign adversaries.

Only a few months ago, the New York Times reported the US Cyber Command was stepping up "digital incursions" into Russia’s electric power grid, highlighting the fact that this Command enjoys powers to conduct clandestine military activity to deter, safeguard or defend against attacks.

As a result, many of the BRICS nations are massively investing in their digital capabilities while developing Internet sovereignty legislation, crafting new data protection frameworks and increasingly requiring tech companies to store data about a person in that person's home country.