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I grew up in the late '70s in rural China

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during the final years of my country's
pursuit of absolute equality

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at the expense of liberty.

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At that time, everybody had a job,

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but everyone was struggling.

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In the early '80s,
my dad was an electrician,

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and my mom worked two shifts
in the local hospital.

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But still, we didn't have enough food,

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and our living conditions were dismal.

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We were undoubtedly equal --

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we were equally poor.

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The state owned everything.

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We owned nothing.

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The story I'm going to share with you
is about my struggles

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of overcoming adversity

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with my resilience, grit
and sheer determination.

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No, I'm just kidding,
I'm not going to do that to you.

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(Laughter)

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Instead, I'm going to tell you,

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what I'm going to talk about today
is about a new form of collective poverty

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that many of us don't recognize

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and that urgently needs to be understood.

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I'm sure you've noticed
that in the past 20 years,

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that asset has emerged.

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It's been generating wealth
at a breakneck pace.

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As a tool, it has brought businesses
deep customer insights,

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operational efficiency

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and enormous top-line growth.

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But for some,

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it has also provided a device
to manipulate a democratic election

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or perform surveillance
for profit or political purposes.

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What is this miracle asset?

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You've guessed it: it's data.

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Seven out of the top 10 most valuable
companies in the world are tech companies

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that either directly generate
profit from data

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or are empowered by data from the core.

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Multiple surveys show

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that the vast majority
of business decision makers

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regard data as an essential
asset for success.

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We have all experienced how data
is shifting this major paradigm shift

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for our personal, economic
and political lives.

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Whoever owns the data owns the future.

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But who's producing the data?

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I assume everyone in this room
has a smartphone,

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several social media accounts

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and has done a Google search
or two in the past week.

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We are all producing data. Yes.

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It is estimated that by 2030,
10 years from now,

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there will be about 125 billion
connected devices in the world.

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That's an average of about
15 devices per person.

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We are already producing data every day.

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We'll be producing exponentially more.

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Google, Facebook and Tencent's
combined revenue in 2018

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was 236 billion US dollars.

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Now, how many of you
have received payment from them

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for the data you generate for them?

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None, right?

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Data has immense value
but is centrally controlled and owned.

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You are all walking raw materials
for those large data companies,

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but none of you are paid.

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Not only that,

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you're not even considered
as part of this equation for income.

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So once again,

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we are undoubtedly equal:

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we're equally poor.

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Somebody else owns everything,
and we own nothing.

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Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

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So what should we do?

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There might be some clues
in how my life turned out

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after that difficult start.

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Things began to look up
for my family in the '80s.

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The system evolved,

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and people began to be allowed
to own a piece of what we created.

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"People diving into the ocean,"

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or "xia hai," the Chinese term,

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described those who left
state-owned enterprise jobs

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and started their own businesses.

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Private ownership of a business

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became personal ownership of cars,

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properties, food, clothes and things.

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The economic machine started rolling,

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and people's lives began to improve.

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For the first time,

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to get rich was glorious.

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So in the '90s, when I went
to study in Chengdu in west China,

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many young individuals like myself

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were well-positioned
to take advantage of the new system.

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After I graduated from my university,

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I cofounded my first business
and moved to Shenzhen,

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the brand-new special economic zone
that used to be a fishing village.

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Twenty years later,

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Shenzhen has become
a global innovation powerhouse.

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Private ownership was a form of liberty
we didn't have before.

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It created unprecedented opportunities
for our generations,

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motivating us to work
and study incredibly hard.

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The result was that more than
850 million people rose out of poverty.

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According to the World Bank,

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China's extreme poverty rate in 1981,
when I was a little kid, was 88 percent.

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By 2015, 0.7 percent.

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I am a product of that success,

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and I am very happy to share that today,
I have my own AI business,

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and I lead a very worldly
and dynamic life,

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a path that was unimaginable
when I was a kid in west China.

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Of course, this prosperity
came with a trade-off,

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with equality,
the environment and freedom.

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And obviously I'm not here to argue
that China has it all figured out.

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We haven't.

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Nor that data is fully comparable
to physical assets.

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It is not.

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But my life experience allowed me
to see what's hiding in plain sight.

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Currently, the public discourse

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is so focused on the regulatory
and privacy issue

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when it comes to data ownership.

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But I want to ask:

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What if we look at data ownership
in completely different ways?

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What if data ownership is, in fact,

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a personal, individual and economic issue?

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What if, in the new digital economy,

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we are allowed to own
a piece of what we create

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and give people the liberty
of private data ownership?

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The legal concept of ownership
is when you can possess,

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use, gift, pass on, destroy

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or trade it or sell your asset

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at a price accepted by you.

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What if we give that same definition
to individuals' data,

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so individuals can use or destroy our data

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or we trade it at our chosen price?

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Now, I know some of you might say,

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"I would never, ever trade my data
for any amount of money."

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But that, let me remind you,
is exactly what you're doing now,

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except you're giving
your data away for free.

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Plus, privacy is a very personal
and nuanced issue.

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You might have the privilege
to prioritize your privacy over money,

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but for millions of small
business owners in China

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who can't get bank loans easily,

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using their data to gain rapid loan
approval from AI-powered lenders

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can answer their more pressing needs.

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What's private to you

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is different from
what's private to others.

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What's private to you now

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is different from what was private
when you were in college.

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Or, at least, I hope so.

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(Laughter)

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We are always,
although often subconsciously,

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making such trade-offs

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based on our diverse personal beliefs
and life priorities.

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That is why data ownership
would be incomplete

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without a pricing power.

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By assigning pricing power to individuals,

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we gain a tool to reflect
our personal and nuanced preferences.

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So, for example, you could choose
to donate your data for free

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if a contribution
to a particular medical research

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is very meaningful for you.

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Or, if we had the tools
to set our behavior data

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at a price of, say,
100,000 US dollars,

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I doubt any political group
would be able to target

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or manipulate your vote.

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You control. You decide.

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Now, I know this sounds
probably implausible,

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but trends are already pointing to

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a growing and very powerful
individual data ownership movement.

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First, start-ups
are already creating tools

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to allow us to take back some control.

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A new browser called Brave

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empowers users with "Brave Shields" --
they literally call it that --

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by aggressively blocking
data-grabbing ads and trackers,

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and avoid leaking data
like other browsers.

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In return, users can take back
some bargaining and pricing power.

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When users opt in to accept ads,

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Brave rewards users
with "basic attention tokens"

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that can redeem content
behind paywalls from publishers.

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And I've been using Brave
for a few months.

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It has already blocked
more than 200,000 ads and trackers

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and saved hours of my time.

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Now, I know some of you
interact with your browser

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more than with your partners, so --

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(Laughter)

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you should at least find one that doesn't
waste your time and is not creepy.

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(Laughter)

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Do you think Google is indispensable?

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Think again.

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A search engine is indispensable.

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Google just has the monopoly --

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for now.

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A search engine called DuckDuckGo
doesn't store your personal information

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or follow you around with ads

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or track your personal browsing history.

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Instead, it gives all users
the same search results

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instead of based on
your personal browsing records.

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In London, a company called digi.me

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offers an app you can download
on your smartphone

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that helps to import and consolidate
your data generated by you

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from your Fitbit, Spotify,

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social media accounts ...

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And you can choose
where to store your data,

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and digi.me will help you
to make your data work for you

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by providing insights that used
to be exclusively accessible

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by large data companies.

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In DC, a new initiative
called UBDI, U-B-D-I,

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Universal Basic Data Income,

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helps people to make money

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by sharing anonymous insights
through their data

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for companies that can use them
for market research.

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And whenever a company purchases a study,

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users get paid in cash and UBDI points
to track their contribution,

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potentially as much
as 1,000 US dollars per year

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per their estimation.

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UBDI could be a very feasible path
for universal basic income

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in the AI economy.

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Further, individual awareness
of privacy and data ownership

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is growing fast

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as we all become aware of this monster
we have unleashed in our pocket.

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I'm a mother of two preteen girls,

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and trust me,

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the single biggest source of stress
and anxiety as a parent,

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for me, is my children's
relationship with technology.

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This is a three-page agreement
my husband and I make them sign

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before they receive
their first [mobile phone].

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00:11:27,325 --> 00:11:28,993
(Laughter)

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We want to help them to become

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00:11:33,191 --> 00:11:35,772
digital citizens,

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00:11:35,796 --> 00:11:41,489
but only if we can make them
become smart and responsible ones.

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I help them to understand
what kind of data should never be shared.

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So if you Google me,

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in fact -- actually, sorry --
if you DuckDuckGo me,

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you will find maybe a lot
about me and my work,

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but you may find no information
about my daughters.

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When they grow up,

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if they want to put themselves out there,
it's their choice, not mine,

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00:12:03,211 --> 00:12:05,786
despite that I insist
they're the most beautiful,

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smartest and most extraordinary
kids in the world, of course.

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And I know many people
are having similar conversations

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and making similar decisions,

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which gives me hope

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that a truly smart data-rich future
will be here soon.

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But I want to highlight
the Clause 6 of this agreement.

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It says, "I will never, ever search
for any information online

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if I would be embarrassed
if seen by Grandma Dawnie."

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(Laughter)

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Try it. It's really effective.

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00:12:35,126 --> 00:12:36,501
(Laughter)

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Throughout history,

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there has always been a trade-off
between liberty and equality

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in the pursuit of prosperity.

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The world has constantly been going
through the circle of wealth accumulation

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00:12:55,047 --> 00:12:56,994
to wealth redistribution.

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As the tension between
the haves and have-nots

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is breaking so many countries,

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00:13:02,916 --> 00:13:05,327
it is in everyone's interest,

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00:13:05,351 --> 00:13:07,851
including the large data companies,

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00:13:07,875 --> 00:13:11,173
to prevent this new form of inequality.

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Of course, individual data ownership
is not the perfect nor the complete answer

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00:13:17,325 --> 00:13:19,746
to this profoundly complex question

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of what makes a good digital society.

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But according to McKinsey,

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AI will add 13 trillion US dollars
of economic output in the next 10 years.

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Data generated by individuals
will no doubt contribute

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to this enormous growth.

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Shouldn't we at least consider
an economic model

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that empowers the people?

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And if private ownership helped
to lift more than 850 million people

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out of poverty,

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it is our duty

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and we owe it to future generations

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to create a more inclusive AI economy

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that will empower the people
in addition to businesses.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)