Putting the Price on Privacy: Decommodifying Data with the Fiduciary Model

Abstract

Engaging with the internet and digital technologies is more invasive than ever before and the platforms that make it so have weaponized the law to shield themselves from the consequences of their exploitative business models. Federal data privacy laws in the U.S. are woefully inadequate and no law currently regulates private sector data collection and commodification, a process that undermines transparency, privacy, autonomy, and democracy itself. But the information economy does not operate in a lawless space; rather, it is the product of legal innovations and political maneuvers on the part of platforms during the early development of the digital age. Data propertization as a tool for ensuring privacy protections, if enacted at the national level, would be a continuation of that harmful legacy. The information fiduciary model is a promising alternative and presents a real opportunity to not only protect user privacy, but to also restructure the information economy towards greater transparency and greater responsiveness to user interests.