Platform Cooperatives to Keep Your Data Safe

Summary

As the outbreak of Covid-19 has forced everything from birthday parties to staff meetings online, millions of us are now sharing data, personal stories and sensitive information over unregulated digital platforms that sell our data to advertisers and political entities. Companies like Zoom have been reaping the benefits, even as they’re increasingly beset by privacy and security concerns. Berlin-based tech entrepreneur Ela Kagel worries that conversations unknowingly recorded could be used as possible incriminating evidence in the future.

Kagel is part of a growing movement called platform cooperativism that believes our digital platforms should be democratic and cooperatively owned by the people who use them. Rather than turn to monopolistic tech companies like Amazon or Facebook, she shares some alternative, scalable models that increase social coordination and protect users’ rights in a cooperative digital space. Ela Kagel joined Micky Metts and Stacco Troncoso in the latest episode ‘Take Back the App’ on The Laura Flanders Show.

This pandemic will eventually end, but what will come next? Will we take real steps to protect our personal data online, or will companies like Zoom become the new normal?