WHY EQUITY FOR YOUR CLICKS?
Here, we present our reasoning for why you should fully participate in the profits, gains, and governance of an internet technology company you use on the basis of your clicks, etc. on its services.
WHY EQUITY FOR CLICKS?
Data capitalization without equity participation
You capitalize internet technology companies with the data in your clicks, etc. on their services, but you cannot participate in the profits, gains, and governance of those companies on that basis.
First and foremost, your "clicks, etc." are:
Data capitalization
CAPITALIZE / verb
Provide (a company) with capital, which is wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization.
Data-transmitting transactions you continuously make with "tech" companies
Your clicks, etc. are the data-transmitting transactions you make with internet technology companies. They can include clicks, taps, swipes, keyboard entries, and automatic "background" activity, such as location services and diagnostics, on your internet-connected devices or services. The frequency of your clicks, etc. is likely to be continuous.
Capitalize "tech" companies with the data they need
Your clicks, etc. transmit data to internet technology companies in the form of facts, such as the websites you visit and your activity on them, and any content you create, such as a social media post. These companies incorporate this data to perform, personalize, enhance, and secure their services so that they are possible and valuable to use.
Your clicks, etc. are also risk-capital transactions of the highest order because they:
Compound your personal exposure to "tech" companies
That data in your clicks, etc. can enable internet technology companies to learn, infer, and/or predict your emotions, habits, health, interests, personality, preferences, relationships, thought patterns, etc. at an accelerating rate. Such exposure to these companies can render you almost perfectly susceptible to any "call-to-action" they may attempt, such as for a product purchase, an ad-click, or increased service usage.
Are foundational to the viability of "tech" companies
Data transmitted by clicks, etc. constitutes the permanent capital foundation upon which consumer internet technology companies create substantially all of their value over their lifetimes. Without such data, these companies cannot provide their services nor differentiate them from the competition. That makes your clicks, etc. foundational, not ancillary, to the viability of any internet technology company you use.
No equity participation
You risk-capitalize "tech" companies, but you cannot participate in their equity
Internet technology companies do not equitably compensate you for the foundational data capital you almost continuously transmit and the near-total personal exposure you can incur with your clicks, etc. on their services. The most you get in return is "free" access to services, but a market-standard "data exchange" must grant you participation in the profits, gains, and governance of these companies.
Shareholders capture the yield
All profits, gains, and governance premiums derived from your clicks, etc. go to the shareholders of the internet technology companies you use. Multiplied across billions of your fellow consumers, this has resulted in and accelerates extreme concentrations of economic, technological, and informational wealth into a relative few individuals whose interests may or may not align with yours.
As risk-capital transactions, your clicks, etc. entitle you to equity participation in the "tech" companies you use, but none grant it. Currently:
There is a near-universal dissatisfaction with the "data exchange"
Global surveys indicate that 80 – 90% of all consumers are dissatisfied with what they get in exchange for their data. Most of this dissatisfaction relates to concerns about their data exposure to internet technology companies and the disproportionate economic, technological, and informational wealth that accrues to them.
Equity participation is a market-standard exchange for your risk-capital
Participation in the profits, gains, and governance of companies – equity participation – is a market-standard exchange for those who hazard themselves to capitalize companies, and that is what you do when you transmit data to internet technology companies through your clicks, etc. on their services.
Equity for clicks
Profits and gains in proportion to your clicks, etc.
Consumer cooperatives distribute their profits and gains to their customers in proportion to a specific measure of their transactions. The number of your data/risk-capital transactions – your clicks, etc. – is the best possible measure for distributing profits and gains, primarily because the monetary value of your data is unfathomable, subjective, and liable to change.
Because of the foregoing, we believe it is time for a tech company to grant you full equity participation in exchange for your clicks, etc. on their services.
Full equity participation through a consumer cooperative structure
A consumer cooperative is a 100% customer-owned company and the only kind that can grant you full equity participation for your clicks, etc. on its services. Full equity participation through 100% customer-ownership is necessary because you and your fellow consumers risk-capitalize internet technology companies far more than others do.
To get "equity for clicks," a tech company must provide you:
A vote in corporate governance
Consumer cooperatives are democratically governed by their customers. Because you contribute foundational data capital and expose yourself through your clicks, etc., you should not accept anything less than a vote in corporate governance so that you can have a say in minimizing your risk and maximizing your value.
No data capitalization without equity participation. Get equity for your clicks on a web browser.
RISK-CAPITAL / noun
Capital provided to a company at an extraordinary risk of loss to the provider and a market-standard medium of exchange for corporate equity participation.