The Root of the Matter: Data and Duty

The time has come for a new set of guardrails for information capitalism that protect citizens and promote marketplace competition. The framework for such policies already exists and is embedded in the principles of common law. Companies have responsibilities: a “duty of care” to not cause harm, and a “duty to deal” to prevent monopoly bottlenecks. The harvesting of personal information – often without the individual’s knowledge – infringes on the sovereignty of the individual and their personal privacy. Just as government once established rules to protect the collective good by assuring pure food and drugs, and clean air and water, we now have a collective interest in overseeing how the internet allows companies to collect and exploit personal information. Internet companies – both service platforms and the networks that deliver them – should have a “duty of care” as to the effects of their actions on personal privacy. The subsequent use of that personal information has been cartelized to create new market-dominating anti-competitive forces. The data economy is no different from earlier economies where human nature and economic instinct created market- controlling bottlenecks. The dominant digital companies have a “duty to deal” so as not to block the competitive functioning of the marketplace.