Root Data Sovereignty

There is a growing hash tag (#) on Twitter labeled #DataSovereignty that points at a root data structure issue yet to be resolved in our global socio-economic system. It is not a new issue, it has been with us for some time... but it is new to most people, because the internet has exposed it in a manner that is very media worthy. Edward Snowden, the NSA, drones in our airspace, surveillance marketing in our pockets, ears, around every corner and shelf space... and many other formats both big and small have us all paying attention to this issue of data security, privacy and freedom of participation in new ways.

But do you know what root data sovereignty actually is, what it means, and how it affects your life?

Before the internet and world wide web emerged so prolifically, most people had a very simple relationship to data; they needed it when they needed it. Some kept file cabinets at the ready, with data sorted in numerous ways for service when required. A Rolodex was a valued commodity, curated over time and representative to many of clout and success. Even big government offices, or doctor offices, lawyer offices, insurance providers, and many others existed at the availability of properly filed papers managed by people everyday in the normal course of work.

In these days before digital records, before databases filled with personal contacts delivered to a smartphone, before apps that harvested location data on a moment by moment basis, before any of our present day technical reality... root data sovereignty was a very real concern to certain people... and of very little concern to most others. And the reason is simple; ignorance is bliss, as they say.

Everything is different today. The internet has changed the formula where ignorance was bliss. It is almost impossible at this point to deny that data access and the ability to engineer meaningful and valuable outcomes with data access is changing the world. This is not hyperbole, this is actionable intelligence. The entire world is not only available for the taking, but is susceptible to data harvesting at any moment by a seemingly endless variety of devices, all capable of being networked, socially coordinated, and managed with macro and micro intent.

How do you think Barack Obama got elected? Serious question. We live today in a world that struggles loudly with the results of our past model of root data sovereignty where "white men" seem to have access to opportunities and privileges that others of color or the female gender do not. And while the statistics of employment in technology companies speak for themselves, a deeper level of inspection also points to a phenomenally important data set. For it was socially coordinated data engineers that got Barack Obama elected... and these people come from the same demographic that is often targeted with aggression on the merits that they deny opportunity and privileges to others "not like them". It has not been covered by our media, often busy chasing its own tail, but yes, racism was very much involved in getting him re-elected, but the "Change We Can Believe In" and cause for the Nobel Peace Prize later awarded to President Obama was a generation of data managers and engineers that are actively engaged in the re-engineering of our root data sovereignty as a Nation, and a World.

The internet is the greatest innovation our species will ever create. It will swallow and change every other innovation in time. Its greatness is found in its inherent structure and capability of representing each and every individual that connects to it directly. Well known men like Vinton Cerf and Tim Berners Lee and many others who have contributed to the fabric of this data processing machine have openly given to each of us the ability to change the world. They have challenged the very meaning of literacy in this world, and prompted a discussion about what is required for our future generations to be literate in a web-enabled world. Their contributions, often made openly without personal concern for intellectual property protection or compensation have provided gifts to Humanity that will be fundamentally useful in the generations ahead.

And yet, the status quo remains. There are plenty of people that are fighting against the free expansion of the internet as a tool of open and free data expression. Some of these people do not even know they are doing so. Many of them are simply working at jobs provided to them in defense of revenue generating models that put food on their own tables, care for many families and enable vacations during the summer. Many more are following the "company line" out of a sense of loyalty and patriotism to a model of Sovereign participation that they could not map out on a napkin if they were asked to.

The idea that there is something called "root data sovereignty" in this world is a conversation that is very sparsely populated. And yet, it affects every one of us. It begins the moment a new Human baby is born into this world, and it runs the duration of Human civilization on planet Earth. The administration of Human life, of the resources availed to Human beings, of the Rights accorded to Nations and cultures within those Nations... is all relative to the root data sovereignty model that you Agree to "Pledge Allegiance" to and defend with your life if necessary.

So what is your root data sovereignty model?

Where do you live?

While I am learning more and more about various National models as I explore this topic, I was born a citizen of the United States of America. For this reason alone, my root data sovereignty is relative primarily to the United States, and specifically to the Commonwealth of Virginia and State of New York. My family has roots in this land that go back to 1632, and have many complete records of transactions created in settling lands, owning property, selling property, fighting in numerous wars and serving as stewards to various socio-economic concerns. My own life started in 1973, and my root data sovereignty was configured henceforth as an Individual and citizen.

As an Individual I was born, fully capable of life, in need of nourishment and shelter, and protected by parents from outside influence that was unwarranted. In the days following my live birth, a live birth certificate was formalized inaugurating my administrative birth as a Human being, and a citizen with Rights under management.

As a citizen I was structured by default as a social liability, whereby any asset value inherent to my life was contributed to Society in advance of my participation, and in exchange for the Rights that all legal social liabilities receive under US Constitutional authority accorded to citizens.

My birth certificate was held in Trust by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and was used to validate the Rights of my existence in any and all administrative functions where such verification was necessary. Separately, under the custodial care of my parents and family, a discreet structure was created to endow my life with certain asset values, and to define the Rights I would have to accessing them.

Prior to an age of personal accountability or the ability to care for myself, the root data structure of my life was established. To this day, the root data structure of my life defines the manner and methods I use to control, access, expand and deplete the value of my life.

What has come to be so glaringly obvious in considering the internet prior to it's mass expansion, and now in experiencing this mass expansion, is that the foundation of my National model of root data sovereignty both denies myself Individual integrity as a data structure in order to contrive a market as free upon the value of my open participation, AND sets the precedent that the baseline of equality in my Society is structurally akin to data enslavement, whereby no personal Rights of choice are accorded to participants directly.

That is a BIG problem.

There are Individuals and families alive and functioning today that understand why it is important, if not critical, to deliberately structure a Human life with personal Sovereignty. These people understand how to do it, and they take action, upon the birth of a child, to restructure how value and data correlate within the lives of these new beings. While we are told that "All men are created equal..." the living reality is obviously anything but true... for at the moment of Earthly administration, each of us cease to be equal.

The internet exposes this fact in an entirely new way. The effects of this will have long impacts reaching throughout all Societies, and affecting the way our socio-economic system works on both macro and micro scales. This will be very personal for you, and we are only at the beginning.

Sovereignty in any National construct is a function of the people who make/allow it to exist. In America, John Hancock represents our Sovereign muse. His signatory act of personal Sovereignty was a direct message to a King and to History writ large, and no administrative system should be unaware of this fact. All Sovereign authority originates within the lives of Individual Human beings. Society, functioning in a healthy way with justice and freedom, security and happiness availed equally to all by willful participation is a choice made by Individuals. Before we can ever convict a terrorist for being evil, Individuals hold the Sovereign Right to kill and create chaos in any Society. Justice always plays catch up to reality, and Freedom is still worth it.

Society is a choice...or it ceases to be civil.

Data sovereignty is not a choice... it either exists and empowers Individuals with Sovereign source authority, or civil Society collapses from its own weight.