In an information driven economy, information in itself is seen as an "intangible commodity", one that is bought and sold, with and sometimes without the owners' permission.

In a strictly academic sense, data ownership has been defined as the residual right of control to an asset, namely the database and information stored in the database (Grossman and Hart, 1986).

But in a real world sense, it also encapsulates complex business relationships between owners and users in addition to the issue of individual's control over his or her personal data and what may result from the sale of such data.

Why is data ownership an issue? Today there are more third party entities controlling data for companies about us and our every day habits and actions than ever before. Data mining not only provides companies a new way of manipulating data they already have, but allows businesses to recognize the value this information has to other businesses, thus creating new markets for raw information. This means that our privacy is at stake, and it is up to us to decide what to do about it.

Industry and Data Ownership

Data ownership has major implications for both government and private industry in terms of how systems are managed internally and how processes are outsourced to independent contractors. In both instances, performance of the database and the quality of the data it contains are largely functions of the complex relationship between owners and users. Internally this may mean the difference between managers successfully integrating data from different domains to create a clearer picture of an inventory system or failing to do so because neither has a vested interest in managing data that might help the other. Externally, it may mean the difference between a company hiring a contractor to crunch sales data that will enable it to exploit new markets or becoming embroiled in costly lawsuits to gain custody of critical data when the business relationship source.

Internal issues

According to Van Alstyne et. al. (1995) Database design involves three major dimensions:

1. systems components: system hardware, systems, software, network connections
2. development: procedural aspects of programming and implementation
3. control: rights and responsibilities of those involved in the database system

Of these, they cite control, or in this sense, one's ownership of the system, a one the most critical factors in the success of the database. The reason is fairly simple. Owners are more likely to be invested in a system or object than users. Database managers who have complete access to their system are more likely to ensure that the data collected is complete, the right kind of data is being collected, and that the data us being used properly. While the decentralized approach to ownership may introduce some complexities in terms of system management, owners are better able to address issues because they have the authority to solve problems or make changes locally.

Outsourcing issues

If possession is nine-tenths of yesterday, as Davis and Meyer argue in Blur (1999), companies have great incentive to divest themselves of processes that are better managed by outside companies. In effect, resource reallocation has become a powerful and lucrative business model. As a result, outsourcing data management has become a common practice. Because the economic value of acquiring and maintaining intellectual property is often imprecise, it is difficult for companies to create contracts that will assure each side is justly compensated. For example, the question of who owns the results of the data collection often arises when these relationships sour. Network Solutions was granted an exclusive contract by the U.S. government to register domain names (e.g. Internet addresses in the .com, .net, .org domain). Recently the Department of Commerce decided to introduce competition into the registry service effectively ending the very profitable monopoly Network Solutions holds in this area. Network Solutions fought back, claiming ownership of the database and the 5 million registered domain names. Recently the situation was resolved to a certain extent. Network Solutions is required to give competitors access to its database and has lost considerable control over its contents. Because Network Solutions is less vested in the relationship, they have also decided not to police the quality of domain names, thus allowing the registration of obscene names, something the government wanted to avoid.

Individuals and Data Ownership

Industry may have its own data ownership issues to deal with, but as far as as individuals and consumers go, there are additional issues. We want to know how data ownership affects us. How are we involved in these issues? What do we have to gain or lose from issues of data ownership? Data about us and our actions is collected by companies without our knowledge every day, and it may be up to us to claim ownership to this information. There are many current examples of data whose ownership has been questioned, and the big issue remains: who maintains control over this data? There are different views on this topic, of course, and the current debate will inevitably shape the future of individual information ownership.

One approach to the situation is to take the position that if individuals freely give the information to the company/institution and do not specify that they do not wish that the information be used in any way other than the reason the information was given, the company has every right to the information. However, it is also the responsibility of the company to use it so as to uphold the reputation of the company. It is the opinion of many that it it is incumbent on us to secure our own privacy. We all must take reasonable measures to do this.

On the other hand, there are those who believe that the onus lies with the companies or institutions that collect information about us, whether we know it or not. These people believe that individuals have a right to retain ownership of this information, and that companies have the responsibility to respect that right.

Genetic ownership

Earlier this year a drug company bought a database of genetic information from the Icelandic government, to be used for researching genetic causes of disease. Since the genetic makeup of the population of Iceland is so homogeneous, the population's genetic information was seen to be a valuable commodity, and the ownership of the data was effectively taken away from the people who would seem to have rightful ownership to it. Further, it was up to the individuals to claim ownership of their genetic information: the government assumed implied consent, excluding individuals only if they specifically objected to their data being sold. This results in a very precarious situation due to what can result from the research done using this information. Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota states that "...selling exclusive rights to a single corporation sets up the possibility for both exploitation of whatever information comes from the research, and for control over access to the benefits it may yield. It is ironic that such exclusive licensing deals make the quintessentially public resource into a private commodity, and may end up denying access to its benefits to the very individuals whose DNA make discoveries possible" (Kahn, 1999).

He goes on, saying that "...While harms or denial of benefits to the public don't necessarily follow, corporate interests may not parallel those of individuals or groups whose data they "own," and it isn't clear who or what will protect the rights and interests of DNA "donors." (Ibid.).

Telephone record ownership

Another example of the question of data ownership that's currently making news is the sale of calling records to marketing companies who find ways to use the records to promote their products. In an article in the News and Observer on Sunday, November 7, the question of data ownership is an issue that Senator John Edwards of North Carolina is taking interest in. Bits of information taken from calling records can be used to build consumer profiles, including information from every aspect of our lives. The phone companies claim ownership to their customer's phone records, citing a ruling in the US Circuit Court of Appeals which gives phone companies ownership of the records, and say they have First Amendment rights to use the records. The News & Observer article goes on to talk about a bill that Senator Edwards is introducing that would restrict the sale of phone records. Many questions about consumer privacy arise from these issues: to what extent do we have ownership over our every day actions, including the kinds of telephone calls we make?

DMV information

Another well publicized example of the issue of data ownership here in North Carolina is the recent announcement of the sale of DMV records to marketing companies, which would result in individuals receiving large quantities of junk mail. Due to loud protest from consumers realizing that they were going to lose ownership of their personal information, the DMV provided a method whereby consumers could retain ownership by filling out a form, effectively reclaiming ownership of their names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Conclusions and Future Directions

In industry, quality and control of data will always be a problem as long as the company itself does not control the collection and management of data. There will always be some degree of undefined variables involved in the practice of outsourcing, and as a result there will be a certain degree of conflict as far as data ownership. As far as individual data ownership, the trend seems to be that participation equals consent. If we do not make an effort to claim specific ownership of our personal information, whether it's genetic information, telephone records, addresses, or online behavior, this information may leave our possession and be sold to companies who will use to their benefit.

Resources

Alstyne, M. Van, Brynjolfsson, E., Madnick, S. (1995). Why not one big database? Principles for data ownership. Decision Support Systems, 15(4): pp. 267-284.

Davis, S. Meyer, C. (1999). Blur: the speed of change in the economy. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc.

Frey, C. (1998). Drivers' data held for 1 year: DMV plan spurs junk-mail haters. The News and Observer on the Web, July 3.