Personal Data Accounts: Portable Data Vaults with Mandatory Profit-Sharing Rights
Description
Establish Personal Data Accounts (PDAs) — portable, individually-controlled digital vaults that users own and control, into which all personal data collection is automatically directed. Platforms cannot access personal data except by explicit request to the PDA, with automatic logging and user notification.
Core components: (1) Data Ownership & Control: Individual users own their PDA and all data within it. Data deletion, export, and portability are user prerogatives at any time. (2) Mandatory Profit-Sharing: Platforms must remit a fixed percentage of revenue derived from personal data (25%) to the PDA owner as dividend.
This internalizes the value of data extraction and creates direct economic incentive for users to manage their data. (3) PDA Interoperability Standard: All platforms and data brokers required to support a standard PDA API, enabling users to switch platforms without losing data continuity.
(4) Data Literacy Mandate: All platforms must present data collection in a standardized, plain-language format showing: what data is collected, how long it is retained, who it is shared with, and estimated economic value. Modeled on EU's right to data portability (GDPR Article 20) but with ownership and compensation rights.
Implementation Pathway
Phase 1 (2026–2028)
- • PDA standard finalized by W3C + government working group
- • Largest 50 platforms required to implement PDA support in all markets
- • Profit-sharing model calculation methodologies published and certified
Phase 2 (2028–2031)
- • 90% of digital platforms support PDA API
- • First profit-sharing payments flowing to 100M users
- • Data broker regulation integrated with PDA framework
Phase 3 (2031+)
- • Universal PDA adoption; data sovereignty becomes default operating principle
- • User data monetization becomes visible economic right
Required Resources
Impact Analysis
Overall Net Impact
Combined analysis across all timeframes
Short-term
0-2 years
No benefits identified
No harms identified
Mid-term
3-10 years
No benefits identified
No harms identified
Long-term
10+ years
No benefits identified
No harms identified
