Do you remember what it feels like to be a kid? The joy of riding a bike, the exhilaration of running across an open field and feeling the wind on your face, that first lick of ice cream on a hot summer’s day. You had no bills to pay, places to go, or jobs to work.
At TARTLE, we think it’s time to bring that back for people. The marketplace is our way of empowering individuals to seize control of their data and profit off of their hard work. It’s only right that you benefit the most from the effort you put out on the internet—which is not what is happening in the status quo. Especially if you are one of many people living in an authoritarian regime.
This episode is a continuation of Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby’s discussion on helping people under regimes find freedom.
One indication that a person is living under an authoritarian regime is to look at their capacity for free speech. A good test would be to see if individuals like you and I can go to a public space and openly criticize the government, or their leader. If just the thought of it makes you shudder, you are living in a regime.
An extension of this freedom that regimes do not have, is the availability of reading materials and other kinds of media that may look controversial, or against the government. How heavy is censorship in these areas? While censorship does occur in varying degrees around the world, even in liberal democracies, it becomes a problem when it’s used excessively in an authoritarian regime —and for the sole benefit of keeping those in power, empowered above everyone else.
Another aspect of authoritarian regimes involve issues with property rights. When it comes to personal data, you’d think that you would have sole control over it because it’s something you produce as an autonomous being. But regimes are constantly on the lookout for ways to secure your genomic information and location, which are two of the most in-demand data packets in the world.
These packets are often passively collected by your smartphone or gadgets on a regular basis, and they tell a lot about who you are as a person. It’s a direct expression of your freedom of movement and your biological makeup. When an outside entity seeks to restrict or control you based on what you were born with or where you want to go, you are living under a regime.
In passing, Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby raise an interesting thought to ponder: what if you are already under an authoritarian regime?
By virtue of your participation on big tech platforms that do not commit themselves to open and transparent practices, you are already a pawn in someone else’s game of chess. Try and find out how much of your data is being used for someone else’s profit; you’ll be shocked at just how much you’re missing out. That's how you know you're in a regime.
With TARTLE, you don’t need to worry about someone else coming in and taking all your data. The hard work you put into curating your digital personality will benefit only you, at the pace that you choose. And unlike regimes, we don't take credit for your hard work. We make sure that the marketplace is a transparent, decentralized system where fraud, oppression, and corruption cannot exist. It's a far cry from the life others are struggling to life in under a regime.
TARTLE wants you to reclaim what is rightfully yours. We don’t put a lot of thought into how much money and information we’re giving away everytime we connect to the internet. This is your opportunity to take the first step on the road to becoming a data champion, and to help those who are oppressed under authoritarian regimes.
When you realize the full potential of what your data is capable of doing, your influence is limitless.
It's time to bring down regimes together.
What’s your data worth?
