Ad

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

UBI

Consider for a moment all the networked devices you use on a daily basis. Now think about whether you have them secured against hacking. Most of us do, of course.

Now consider this: Most, if not all, of those devices are generating gigabytes of data at the very least. That data is based on our usage of the devices. The parent companies that sell the devices are harvesting every kilobyte they can get out of them hourly. And what do they do with that data? It gets sold to companies that compile that information in ways we consumers can't even comprehend. This is OUR data, folks. Whether or not you opted in or out, the device is still sending a minimum of data to the parent company.

Now consider this: As technology in aggregate continues to improve, it will be next to impossible to avoid working with some kind of networked "smart" device over the course of your day, either at home or in your job. And there is more data harvested about our habits.

There is a movement brewing pertaining to something called a "universal basic income". This is supposed to meet the needs of every individual on the planet over the course of time. But what scares the bejesus out of both government and corporate officials is, where will the money come from?

Well there is an answer. All that data that is generated from every person on the planet. It's our data. Wouldn't it make sense if we were personally compensated for it? I'm not saying that we should be paid the hundreds of thousands of dollars that it's valued at. It would be nice, but it's unrealistic. What would be nice is a stipend of say $400 or $500 weekly?

What do you think, Facebook? Google? Samsung? Let's get a discussion going.