My name is Michael, and I’m on a mission to change how the world thinks about data. Today, most big tech companies and AI platforms extract value from our personal information without our consent. The data brokerage industry is worth hundreds of billions each year, yet none of that wealth flows back to the people who generate the data. Instead, it funds an ever-expanding surveillance state and takes away our dignity and opportunity. So I decided to build a Social Media Platform that gives back, and can't be bought from under us. I'm not a billionaire, and I don't want to be one.

I believe data is personal property, and it’s time for a new approach. That’s why I’m building a decentralized social platform where every user owns their data, earns from every interaction, and has a real vote in how the platform and even global policy are shaped. With your help, we can launch a US beta, prove the model in Kenya and the Global South, where people can benefit the most from a data dividend and digital sovereignty, and push for legislation in Congress to enshrine data rights into law.

The funds raised here will be used for several parallel tracks: scaling the working prototype of the platform, lobbying governments to recognize data as personal property, providing a modest founder stipend to keep the project moving until it’s self-sustaining, and reaching out globally to build a movement. Your support will help launch a future where your data, your money, and your vote truly belong to you. Please join me in restoring dignity and opportunity for all.

Learn more and see a working prototype of the platform and the digital vault (open source!) at datadividend.network

A Major Question:

Doesn't this legitimize surveillance capitalism?

My response: Surveillance capitalism already exists- Meta made $134B in 2023 from our data while paying us practically nothing. We're not legitimizing it, we're organizing within a system that already exists and redistributing benefits so the system can't be monopolized.