Share data – but get paid

– From tagging photos on Facebook to driving with Google Maps, people should join forces in “data unions” to demand payment for letting online tools collect their data, according to an economist advocating for radical reforms to improve society.

Glen Weyl, a principal researcher at the research arm of US tech giant Microsoft, said people have been “fooled” into handing over data that is then used in artificial intelligence (AI) to copy human behaviour and possibly eliminate some jobs.

“Humans are doing all this work and then we are being told that we are doing nothing, that we play no role, and that these systems are just going to automate us away. This is profoundly dishonest,” Weyl said.

“We need to respect the fact that those data are actually being created by the very people who these companies are claiming are no longer relevant. And we need to acknowledge that by compensating them.”

Getting paid for tagging photos on Instagram or uploading to YouTube has been gaining traction in the US as tech giants from Google to Facebook face increased scrutiny over the way they handle personal information.

Democratic presidential contender Andrew Yang has said people should receive a share of the economic value generated from their data, while the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, recently proposed companies should pay a “data dividend”.

Weyl said the amount people would get is a matter of debate but it would in general depend on the size of the economy that becomes automated. –