How big tech is taking our data and how we're going to get it back with perspectives on the current state of data from Seagate Technology co-founder Finis Conner
When the Economist first said that the world’s most valuable resource is data (not oil), few realized how true this statement actually was. But Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, Facebook—and many other firms—have known the tremendous value of data for decades.
These tech companies have spent the last 20-plus years collecting, harnessing, and controlling the near-limitless power of data. Not only has this skyrocketed the amount of global data to 175 zettabytes (175 trillion gigabytes) by 2025, but it has also allowed these firms to dominate the global digital advertising market, which is expected to reach $681 billion in value in 2023 and $876 billion in 2026.
But data isn’t just about advertising. When combined with sophisticated AI, data is also about large corporations being able to forecast future trends, gain competitive business advantages, steer public opinion, influence elections—even motivate political movements and protests. The question is, will the centralized control of data—and the power and wealth that comes from it—last forever?
According to Finis Conner, co-founder of the world's leading hard drive manufacturer—Seagate Technologies—the days of centralized data control are numbered. Conner has seen data storage technology evolve from the initial 5-megabyte hard drives he brought to market in 1980 to the 30+ terabyte drives coming out in 2023. From his 10,000-foot view, access to new blockchain-based encryption technology is about to empower ordinary citizens to recover, monetize, and democratize the value of the data that's rightfully theirs.
Understanding the Value of Data
To understand the value of data, look no further than the most valuable companies in the world. It’s not a coincidence that four of the top five control some of the largest reserves of data in the world. These companies are earning hundreds of billions of dollars a year by aggressively acquiring, analyzing, leveraging, and selling the data they harvest from billions of global users (without paying a dime for it).
Image source: https://companiesmarketcap.com/
For example, Alphabet (Google) leverages the data it collects—from users of Search, Gmail, Maps, Youtube, and other services—to generate over $76 billion in revenue during the last quarter of 2022. Most of this revenue is from digital advertising. Facebook used the free data it harvests from users to generate revenue of $32 billion in Q4 2022. Again, over 97% of that revenue comes from digital advertising.
The hard drive companies Conner founded have helped to empower the advantages that these data-driven companies now enjoy. According to Conner, “Even companies without reputations for data are using it to rise above the competition. Tesla is an example of the absolute need to capture data from many points to compete in today’s marketplace. Tesla now enjoys its place as a top-10 global company by market cap due to the gathering and consumption of data from Tesla drivers. This data feeds the AI systems that are helping to constantly perfect its products.”
Arguably, Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter in 2022 was also about data. Twitter and its partners have access to information feeds of hundreds of millions of global users—along with the constant stream of real-time data they create on their interactions with news, current events, and opinions.
Tech Companies Earn Hundreds of Billions of Dollars From the Data of Unknowing Users
Technology companies acquire data by providing free and low-cost digital platforms for individuals and businesses. As participants use and create content on these platforms, tech firms capture all of it. They learn about our likes, dislikes, conversations, desires, calendared plans, business objectives, customers, identities, geographical locations, social relationships, and political perspectives. Through AI-powered analysis, tech companies leverage this data to learn what motivates us to change our minds, alter our purchase decisions, and support certain causes. Unfortunately, the users of these platforms rarely understand that their extracted data is far more valuable than the free and low-cost tech services they receive.
In an eye-opening video, tech visionary Jaron Lanier offers a dramatic wake-up call. He explains how social media and other tech platforms make us dependent on their free services—for the sole purpose of capturing more data. He says that consumers and businesses are being short-changed. According to Lanier:
“This whole shadow economy that runs our world now and concentrates our wealth and reduces your future would not be possible without the data that’s coming from you and your friends. You are the fuel for it. You’re giving away all your data for free. You don’t know what data has been taken from you. You don’t know how it’s ultimately used. You don’t have any opportunity to take pride in it. You don’t have any opportunity to make it better. To you, it’s a mystery so you pretend it’s nothing. But it isn’t nothing.”
“When you realize that data is the new oil. When you realize that this thing being taken from you, that you don’t think about, is the future economic value—is your future economic value [...] All of a sudden, I hope you can see that you’re giving away everything in exchange for almost nothing.”
To understand what’s really going on, Conner says, “We should look at the amount of data being created, extracted, and saved—and the revenue being generated from it. I don’t think people have any idea what their data is worth, nor the tremendous value that their data is contributing to the data economy. The total amount of global data is set to nearly double in the next two years, from 97 zettabytes in 2022 to 175 zettabytes in 2025. Just in terms of digital advertising, that data is set to generate $681 billion in revenue in 2023. And it’s all made possible by harvesting the data assets of people and businesses. However, none of that revenue is being shared with the ones who are actually creating it. That’s not fair.”
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photos/server-drive-bay-hard-drives-4393370/
As a “hard drive guy,” Conner has seen the need for storage capacity grow by orders of magnitude due to the massive increase in data created by individuals and companies. During the course of his career, data storage needs have gone from the first 5-megabyte Seagate disk drive that Apple adopted to markets that now require 30+ terabyte disks.
Conner says, “Drive makers don’t increase storage capacity like this because they can. They do it because of the need to store more data. The fact that economists are projecting a $376 billion cloud data storage market by 2029 and an $876 digital advertising market by 2026 is the scale of the magnitude and the value of data. No wonder tech companies design elaborate dopamine-based strategies to addict more users and extract more data from them.”
Consumers and Businesses Are Realizing That They’re Giving Away Their Most Valuable Asset for Nothing
Gradually, the public is waking up. A recent poll from Pew Research Center showed that:
“Some 81% of the public say that the potential risks they face because of data collection by companies outweigh the benefits, and 66% say the same about government data collection. At the same time, a majority of Americans (79%) report being concerned about the way their data is being used by companies or the government (64%). Most feel they have little or no control over how these entities use their personal information.”
According to Conner, “People are asking what happens to their data. Where is it stored? Who benefits from it? And they’re realizing how valuable their data is. Soon, they’re going to want tools and platforms that help them take control and profit from it. Why can’t the creators of data benefit from the sale of it? I see a big opportunity in that, and we now have the technology to make it happen.”
A Path to Recover, Own & Monetize Your Data
Image source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/globe-space-galaxy-data-technology-6858907/
A number of technology startups are already building platforms to help people and businesses secure and monetize their data. CIRUS Foundation, a project that Conner is advising through Conner Group, is an example. The goal of CIRUS Foundation is to return the control and monetization of data to the user.
According to CIRUS co-founder Daniel Bland, “Today, only the largest technology companies in the world have the tools and capacity to unlock the inherent value of their data, but this is rapidly changing. CIRUS is leveraging newly available tools, such as blockchain technology, NFTs, and Web 3.0-based platforms, to help individuals and businesses establish true ownership of their data and generate and start earning money from it.”
Conner adds that “CIRUS Foundation is democratizing the new data economy by moving toward decentralized networks that allow users to fully control their data and generate income from it.”
Final Thoughts
A lot more can be said in support of the need for democratizing access to the value of our data. However, it’s clear that a substantial opportunity exists to unlock this wealth by giving control and ownership of data back to the people and businesses that create it. Also, it seems fair that data and its value-generating potential should belong to those who generate it.
Fortunately, CIRUS Foundation—and other forward-thinking startups—are ready to serve the growing numbers of consumers and businesses that want to own, control, and profit from their data. According to Conner, “As more people wake up to the value of their data, disruptive solutions will be evolving to address this opportunity. In fact, we already have the technology to provide an immediate path for everyone to recover ownership and monetize their data. It’s time to start using it.”
Also published here.