Digital Bill of Rights

A spectre is haunting you from behind your screen — the spectre of surveillance capitalism. It is high time that digital citizens, in the face of rampant techno-tyranny, openly mount a resistance to take back our mental space by force.

To protect rights fundamental to digital citizens the world over, the Mental Liberation Front proposes the formulation of a Digital Bill of Rights.

This Digital Bill of Rights lays down the rights that every digital citizen ought to have, but which are not well enough stated under any system of law to secure them the protection they deserve.

For the freedom, safety, and privacy of all digital citizens, we propose:

Article I. All collection of personal data will be opt-in only — that is, personal data will never be collected, by default, without its owner explicitly granting permission to do so.

Article II. How any personal data is to be used will be detailed, exhaustively and in clear, concise, accessible language, by the collector of said data.

Article III. Any intention to modify the agreed manner of data-use will be put before its owner. Modifications of this kind will render any previous agreement moot, and any further use of data subject to renewed approval.

Article IV. Insofar as permission to collect personal data is granted (in accordance with Articles I, II, and III), information that can be used to identify digital citizens personally will never be stored, shared, sold, or otherwise disseminated without explicit permission.

Article V. All tasks, functions, services, etc. performed by any software on any device will be subject to the same stipulations for opt-in permissions as in Article I.

This document will be the product not only of the vanguard of the Mental Liberation Front, but of any of its firebrand members who wish to contribute to its creation. The final draft will be assembled at the discretion of Front’s founding leadership.

Digital citizens of the world: unite against the scourge of surveillance capitalism!