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Data as Property

The idea of data as a property right is an definitely and intriguing one. Some have been toying around with this idea already and for a while. Recently Aetna has been offering a free Apple watch if you can attain you health and wellness goals. Auto insurers have long been offering incentives for tracking your driving behavior. In all instances, we the consumers are getting paid for the use and sharing of our data. 

 If the system regulated, we might have one giant silo of all our data that can be accessed by just about any entity for a fee. A variety of add-on and mash-up solutions can ride on top of such a repository aimed at specific industries and applications.  If any of that creates a level playing field for companies seeking to consume our data, perhaps it is a good thing. Maybe that will create credible competition for the tech oligopoly that we have today.

 Say we started to make money from data which is now treated as our personal property, then stands to reason we would be taxed for it as well. Would people have the choice to opt out? If a person does not own a home they are not paying any taxes for it. But if we cannot help generating an endless stream of data, that has monetary value, how would we exempt from taxes due from it?

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