Data Equity

Personal data is created through human life and activity. Data equity asks who receives the value, who bears the risk, and who has authority over its use.

The central proposition

Information about a person should not be treated as ownerless merely because it can be observed, recorded, inferred, or copied. Organizations that collect personal information should use it for stated purposes, protect it, and account for the value and risk their use creates.

Working principles

• Purpose limitation: collect and use information for defined purposes.
• Proportionality: request no more information than the relationship reasonably requires.
• Transparency: explain what is collected, why, for how long, and with whom it is shared.
• Consent and alternatives: distinguish genuine choice from forced acceptance.
• Access and correction: allow people to see and correct meaningful records about them.
• Portability and deletion: support practical exit rights where law and legitimate recordkeeping permit.
• Value recognition: examine when contributors should share in the value created from their data or work.

From policy to agreement

Self Equity USA intends to translate these principles into understandable membership terms, research standards, and model agreements rather than leaving them as slogans.