Data is power. This is why Big Tech companies such as Google and Facebook can offer “free” products and still generate more revenue than all the combined economic output of entire countries. Google’s parent company Alphabet’s annual revenue in 2024, for example, was $350 billion(nueva ventana), while Greece’s 2025 GDP is projected to be $267 billion(nueva ventana).
There is an emerging concept, however, that can give control of personal data back to the users. It’s known as digital self-determination(nueva ventana), and the concept emphasizes your right as an individual to control your personal data and gives you the autonomy to decide how your information is collected, used, and shared.
Brazil has long been at the forefront of creating legal frameworks and digital public infrastructure that prioritize transparency, inclusion, and user control (such as its open banking(nueva ventana) initiative and the Pix instant payment system(nueva ventana)). It has now taken a step toward giving individuals direct control over their personal data, not just to protect it, but to monetize it.
A new initiative from a state-owned data firm(nueva ventana) allows Brazilians to manage and even sell their personal data, turning what was once a resource hoarded by tech companies into an asset owned by the people themselves.
While this is not the first such initiative (as we’ll discuss below), the fact that it combines state support with strong industry backing has led many observers to think it may be the first of its kind to be widely adopted. This traction demonstrates that there are different ways to think about digital privacy — ways that empower the individual while also providing companies with the data they feel necessary for their commercial success.
- What is digital self-determination?
- Why digital self-determination matters
- How Brazil is working towards digital self-determination
- Other digital self-determination projects
- How to exercise digital self-determination
- A provocation, a prototype, and perhaps the future
What is digital self-determination?
Digital self-determination is the right and ability of individuals (and communities) to control how their personal data and digital identity are used, shared, and represented in the digital world.
It’s a concept rooted in the broader philosophical idea of self-determination(nueva ventana), which emphasizes the autonomy and agency of individuals in making choices that affect their lives (and which is itself rooted in the notion of human rights(nueva ventana)). The key aspects of digital self-determination are:
Control over your personal data
You should be able to decide what personal data you share, with whom, and for what purpose. This includes the right to consent to data collection and withdraw consent at any time.
Transparency and informed consent
Organizations must provide clear and transparent information about how they collect, store, and process your personal data to ensure you understand how it’s being used and the potential consequences of sharing it.
Data ownership and portability
You should be able to access your personal data and transfer it between different services or platforms easily. This ensures you aren’t locked into specific services and retain control over your data.
Right to be forgotten
You should have the right to request that organizations delete your data from their systems. This is particularly important when your data is no longer necessary or after you’ve withdrawn your consent.
Privacy by design
Digital services and products should be designed with protecting users’ privacy and data in mind from the outset. This means incorporating privacy features and safeguards into the development process to minimize data collection and maximize users’ control over any data that is collected.
Why digital self-determination matters
Currently, monopolistic tech giants are making money hand over fist by harvesting and exploiting our most intimate data. Once these companies collect our data, we have almost no control over it. It can be used to target us with ads, violate our privacy(nueva ventana), and even discriminate(nueva ventana) against us. But there’s an even better argument in favor of digital self-determination.
Digital self-determination allows people to remain autonomous in a world where digital systems often act on our behalf without any transparency or accountability. Ensuring that we have the autonomy to make informed choices about our digital lives is essential if we are to live in a world where technology serves the interests and values of all individuals. It is therefore an essential safeguard to privacy, democracy, and human rights.
How Brazil is working towards digital self-determination
Dataprev(nueva ventana) (Empresa de Tecnologia e Informações da Previdência Social) is a Brazilian state-owned company that (mainly) provides technology and information services for the country’s social security system. In May 2025, it announced(nueva ventana) a “pioneering data property management initiative” in partnership with DrumWave, a Silicon Valley–based technology company that specializes in valuing and monetizing data.
Named dWallet, the project aims to give Brazilian citizens a high degree of digital self-determination, including the right and means to sell their data. Starting as a pilot scheme, dWallet is a digital “data savings account” that allows Brazilians to deposit, manage, and monetize their personal data (starting with information tied to payroll loans).
How dWallet works
When dWallet users interact with the internet, the personal data they generate is placed in a secure digital wallet. Companies can then submit paid offers to access this data, which users can accept on an opt-in and per-offer basis.
The higher the quality of the data — as assessed by DrumWave’s proprietary DIM (Data Information Meaning) index — the more companies are likely to offer. In a country where the average monthly salary is $530(nueva ventana), early adopters are already earning about $50 a month(nueva ventana) for granting access to data that they previously didn’t even know they were generating.
DrumWave does not have any direct access to users’ data.
Reception
It remains to be seen whether the pilot will succeed. Critics point to the sharp digital divide(nueva ventana) in Brazil, where some 25.6 million people live in rural areas(nueva ventana) with little or no internet infrastructure and very low basic literacy rates (let alone the kind of digital literacy(nueva ventana) required to properly benefit from such a scheme). dWallet could exacerbate this divide, benefiting the relatively wealthy and tech-literate urban populations while leaving the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society behind.
There is also concern that large, successful companies will be able to outbid smaller businesses, start-ups, and government departments with small budgets, effectively excluding them from access to the kind of data necessary for organizations to succeed in today’s digital world.
On a more philosophical level, even though it gives individuals autonomy and choice over their data, this data is still being exploited for profit by Big Tech (which is why companies are willing to pay handsomely for it). And when people from often the most vulnerable sections of society can substantially boost their monthly incomes by selling their data, real choice is a luxury that only the already well off will be able to afford.
But for good or ill, the fact that dWallet is the first scheme to institutionalize digital self-determination at a national level gives it the best odds of being widely adopted.
Other digital self-determination projects
Brazil is not working in a vacuum. Government-backed initiatives such as the EU’s GDPR(nueva ventana) (and Brazil’s own implementation of it, the LGPO(nueva ventana)) have made substantial progress in terms of protecting people’s personal data. But many want to go further, shifting the conversation away from protecting people to empowering them. Notable other initiatives in this area include:
Digital Self-Determination Network(nueva ventana)
Launched by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), this government-backed initiative is founded on the notion that citizens should retain control over their data — especially in cross-border contexts. In pursuit of this, the network promotes trustworthy digital ecosystems that respect personal autonomy, data sovereignty, and democratic values.
DECODE(nueva ventana)
Funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, the DECODE (DEcentralised Citizen-Owned Data Ecosystem) project is a pioneering experiment in digital self-sovereignty, offering a privacy-first, citizen-controlled architecture for data ownership, use, and identity.
Using a blockchain and distributed ledger technology(nueva ventana) (DLT) to create a tamper-proof, transparent system for data sharing, real-life pilots in Amsterdam and Barcelona have already demonstrated its technical viability and value in protecting people’s privacy.
Solid(nueva ventana)
Led by Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web(nueva ventana) and Proton advisory board member(nueva ventana)), Solid (Social Linked Data) is an open-source, W3C-standardized(nueva ventana) framework that aims to give individuals full control over their personal data online by allowing them to store it in decentralized “pods”, which they host themselves (on personal servers, cloud services, or via providers). When apps or services request access, users can explicitly grant or revoke it at any time.
How to exercise digital self-determination
Most digital self-determination projects are still at the planning and limited-pilot stage, and focus on protecting your personal data from abuse. dWallet is currently quite unique in that it gives you the ability to monetize your personal data, but it’s restricted to people in Brazil.
However, there are many steps you can personally take to restrict third-party access to your data and achieve at least a measure of digital self-determination:
- The Solid project is available to everyone, and you can get a pod now.
- Use end-to-end encryption(nueva ventana) whenever possible so that only you can access your data.
- Use a zero(nueva ventana)–access encryption email service(nueva ventana) and a secure messaging app(nueva ventana) (such as Signal) to communicate with others.
- Use a browser that respects your privacy(nueva ventana).
- Use a VPN to hide your IP address from websites you visit and your browsing history from your ISP.
- Use a DNS blocker such as Proton VPN’s NetShield Ad-blocker or uBlock Origin to stop websites tracking you across the web.
- Access online services via their websites, not their apps.
- For the apps you can’t live without, regularly check their permissions.
Final thoughts: A provocation, a prototype, and perhaps the future
As the world grapples with the ethical implications of data ownership, Brazil’s dWallet initiative may signal a new way for governments to approach data, identity, and individual empowerment. By enabling citizens to own and monetize their personal data, Brazil isn’t just experimenting with a new technology — it’s potentially redefining how we think about the ownership and control of our digital assets.
Unlike traditional systems, where data is extracted and monetized by platforms behind closed doors, dWallet shifts power to the people — placing consent, transparency, and economic value in their hands. For its advocates, this model doesn’t just benefit individual users; it sets a blueprint for ethical data economies globally. For its critics, it still encourages Big Tech to exploit people’s data.
To succeed on a global scale, this model faces many challenges, such as fostering widespread adoption in the face of what’s likely to be extremely robust opposition from some of the wealthiest and most powerful organizations this planet has ever seen. There is also an urgent need to bridge the digital divide, so that everyone can benefit from it.
Brazil’s dWallet nevertheless sets an interesting precedent for other nations seeking to balance technological advancement with individual rights.
