Personal data could be even more valuable

Today, I'm coming to you from a coffee shop where I just used Apple Pay to buy a dirty chai.

- ANITA CHABRIA

A BUS STOP advertises Artisan AI, an AI software company, along the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

FLORENCE MIDDLETON For The Times

Why does that matter?

Because in the last five minutes, I've dropped all kinds of data into the universe. What I drink, how much I'll pay for it, how long I sat here using this WiFi and dozens of other details that companies are willing to pay for but that I don’t even think about — much less benefit from.

Every day, we all walk around dropping data like garbage — when in reality it's gold. Especially in the age of budding artificial intelligence, when the smallest bit of insight is being crammed into these new robo-gods in the hope of making them seem ever smarter and more human.

It all raises the question, if it's our data, shouldn't we be paid for it?

André Vellozo thinks so, and is working to make that a reality. He's a Brazilian hippie based in Silicon Valley, an outsider in an increasingly conservative and insular community with an idea that’s more about equality than power.

“Everything you do generates value and data," Vellozo said.

"Now you can collect." Here's what he envisions -and why it's as much politics as business.

Pennies add up

Think of Vellozo's idea a bit like streaming royalties, giving you a small paycheck every time information you create is used, be it details of a coffee purchase or your hospital stay. Obviously, an artist could never keep track of every single time their show or song is played -they rely on managers and brokers.

Vellozo's company, DrumWave, would act as that broker for individuals' data. In his scenario, every person from birth would have a digital wallet where every bit of data they drop is accounted for.