Unlike traditional seminars, our global seminar series brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to help us bridge theory and real-world application. The goal? To explore practical ways to empower digital citizens and create humane markets that drive innovation while respecting individual rights.

We are committed to giving digital citizens a say in how things should work online.

The Problem with Today’s Digital Markets

How often do you just click “I agree” and move on, not really sure what you’ve signed up for? These days, swapping bits of personal data for free apps or hours of online experience is normal. How often do we stop to ask what’s really happening with our information, or if the rules are really protecting us? That’s the big issue we tackled in the first episode of the Digital Rules, Human Values: “Let’s Rethink the Data Economy.” 

At the core of the discussion is a critical analysis of current digital markets. Today, much of the digital economy operates on a barter system: users receive “free” services in exchange for their personal data, often without informed consent or transparency. This system, likened to feudal labour markets, is inefficient and rife with problems, including privacy violations, manipulation, and a lack of true market dynamics.

So, What Should Change?

The GIDE has looked at how existing rules are struggling to keep up with fast-changing technologies, new ways of doing business, and the reality that our data is often more valuable than we know. Instead of just stacking up more and more rules, we wondered: Is it time for a smarter, simpler approach?

During the first episode, speakers discussed how to make market forces, working on behalf of consumers, simplify the enforcement of digital rules.

This is not about more paperwork. It is about a simpler and more empowered way to control personal data and gain value from it.

The Four Pillars of Empowerment

The IDEA framework drives human-centred innovation, fosters competition, and supports economic growth without weakening the protection of fundamental rights or overhauling existing digital laws. It introduces a new market, driven by new companies and businesses that deliver personal digital advisory services. It also introduces new models for the use of personal data in the single market. These models ensure that user needs drive digital services. We propose a new model built on four key pillars:

1. Control Over Personal Data: Individuals must have the right to control who accesses their verified personal data and under what terms.
2. Collective Negotiation: Groups of consumers with similar interests should be allowed to collectively negotiate how personal data is processed.
3. Collective Representation: Consumers must be able to negotiate data processing terms through accredited expert fiduciaries who are bound by duties to act in the best interest of consumers.
4. Fiduciary Duties: Data aggregators and intermediaries must be legally obligated to act in the best interests of data subjects, much like doctors or financial advisors.

The model draws inspiration from existing rules in other areas, such as finance and intellectual property, where trusted intermediaries and fiduciary responsibilities are well-established. By adapting these principles to the digital realm, the aim is to create a more balanced, innovative, and democratic data economy.

As AI and big data become ever more pervasive, the stakes are high. Without efficient reform, we risk entrenching systems that erode democracy, concentrate wealth, and strip individuals of agency. 

Participate in the Conversation

If we want digital life to work for people, we need an efficient playbook. That means rules that are simple, flexible, and based on how things actually work. Less patching old laws, more building digital spaces where people really matter.

Want to keep up with real solutions and straight talk about tech and policy? Episode two will show how these ideas can work in practice through an EU-registered data intermediation service.

Tune in, ask questions, and let’s make digital rules to truly reflect human values.