Federated neighborhood data collectives

As the touchpoints of surveillance capitalism reach deeper into our homes—in the form of connected doorbells, voice assistants, and smart meters and appliances—there's growing alarm at the powerlessness of people to control what is measured, how its handled, and who profits from its use. Some envision the rise of data coalitions, loose collectives formed software shells that negotiate data disclosures through collective bargaining. While they offer the potential to scale quickly, these futures feel far off.

A more pragmatic set of experiments in "local data collectives", rooted in the development of new urban neighborhoods, may offer more immediate models. For instance, the 100 Homes Living Lab, part of planning consultancy UNStudio's master plan for the Brandevoort district of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands. There, data collected by instruments embedded in buildings and public space will first flow to a repository controlled by a neutral third-party governed by residents. The goal is to empower residents to exercise more control over how data is used and the value that is created from that use. Combined with the data coalitions idea, this example points towards a future where constellations of local data collectives could link up to achieve the scale necessary to negotiate a new data bargain with Big Tech.