Your data footprint is worth something. In fact, it’s worth a lot, to the tune of $68billion a year in advertising alone. This $68billion doesn’t include income from partnerships, sponsors, marketplace fees, data harvesting, subscriptions, premium services or merchandise. It’s $68,000,000,000 (or $20 for every single man, woman and child using social media on the planet) banked by ethically corrupt monoliths in exchange for handing over YOUR data and the content YOU create. Something is seriously wrong.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get

Traditional social media platforms try everything they can to keep you detached from your data. Their profits rely on keeping ownership above all else and being the trustees (ironic I know) of your data footprint. They offer you arbitrary choices on how the data you’ve handed over to them is used in the hope you don’t look any deeper or question why its ok for them to make billions from you. Misdirection is the name of the game and they are masters of their craft.

Some platforms even try to convince you that they would have to charge for using their platform if they gave you a slice of the advertising pie or actual control! This is utter nonsense, yet users lap it up in spades whilst the social media tyrants laugh their way to the bank.

Then you’ve got countless social media start-ups offering you a slice if you switch to them. Offering to share some of the revenue is a nice gesture, but it doesn’t in any way address the fundamental problem with social media platforms… data ownership. These start-ups are offering to share revenue, BUT (and this is a huge but) they still ask you to hand over ownership of your data and content and trust them to do the right thing. We’ve been here before, it doesn’t work, and a few dollars in compensation shouldn’t detract us from demanding a return of control.

Until we treat our personal data like medical and financial data, nothing will change

Imagine if this data was your medical data, we’d have a whole different level of public outcry. Social media companies forcing you to hand over ownership of your medical data otherwise you can’t access their services. They then sell your records to anyone who is willing to pay, making billions doing so. When you complain, they ‘help’ by letting you select the color of your medical record in the hope you stop asking questions. We wouldn’t stand for it and we would take far greater steps to protect this valuable data.

It may seem strange to compare medical data to your social data footprint, but understand that the data social media platforms have on you is far more intrusive and secretive than anything in your medical record. Your medical records don’t show what type of content can anger, pacify or distract you. Your medical records don’t show how easy it is to manipulate your views so you can unconsciously change the opinions of your friends and colleagues. They don’t show how valuable you are at supressing debate or disseminating fake news. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but we need to start acknowledging just how important and valuable our social data is and that it doesn’t belong to these corporate monsters.

Your data, your content, your choice

First up, data is how this whole thing works. Data is what allows you to beam to your photos onto your friend’s feeds, chat with anyone around the world and to stream yourself teabagging noobs in your favourite game. It’s also this data that tells others who you are, how you interact and what you are up to. That last part is important as it’s that which gives your social data footprint incredible value, especially to advertisers and businesses. This is what social media platforms tapped into and why they have done everything they can to take over ownership of your data… because there are billions to be made from it.

With Howdoo you keep ownership of your data, you keep ownership of your content and you decide how all of it is used. With this control back in your hands, it’s you who decides whether you want to earn by giving advertisers and businesses access. We do all this through the Howdoo Passport.

The Howdoo Passport brings together your entire data footprint into one hub where you control what data can be shared. No sneaky terms and conditions, no hidden settings, no restricting your access, just open and clear controls that you can change on the fly, whenever you want to.

Because your passport enables you to control different types of data independently, you can apply a wide range of loadouts lightning quick that completely change your passport selections. You can even dive deep into the controls and set a bespoke loadout that perfectly suites what you need. If you don’t wish to earn you can also stealth your entire passport and sneak into the shadows, safe in the knowledge your passport won’t let any of your data be shared at all!

This is what taking control looks like. This is your choice and only you decide what data can be shared.

Next time, I’ll be taking you through the Howdoo Passport; how it turns your data into a valuable asset and why it really will change thes way you see your data.

Chris Woulds, Howdoo Head of Operations and Invention