Convincing Corporations That Data Ownership Matters?

I have been thinking lately about what it takes to have corporations start seriously thinking about data ownership from the point of view of the people who provide the information.

What would it take for an entity, whose business model mainly depends on the self-proclaimed rule - "we store your data, so we own your data", to give up some control (and revenue)?

The idea that the owners of the "means of production" would claim that they own "all raw material given to them" is ridiculous in any other field. However, it is acceptable in the IT industry - a discussion I will have in another blog.

Back to the main thought - How to get businesses to play fair with the people who give them data?

Last week, Gartner hinted to the possible answer and our possible future.

In their special report examining the trends in security and risk, Gartner predicted that 90 percent of organizations will have personal data in IT systems they don't own or control.

This prediction hints to a future where corporations are losing money and control of their revenue stream - data. It is only a matter of time before corporations figure out that when they provide data to other companies that provide a service to them, the service provider should share the revenue they get from using the gifting company's data.

So, I am optimistic that corporations will see the value of creating a data ownership ecosystem - as a matter of self-interest and survival.

I am sure they will market it as being for the benefit of the regular Web user.

However, I am less hopeful that the claimed benefit of this ecosystem (and revised viewpoints on data ownership) will actually see the pocket of the ordinary Web user.

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