Breaking News
MyData Global wins EU Internet award
Finland-headquartered nonprofit MyData Global is one of nine organisations to receive a Next Generation Internet award from the European Commission for their positive impact on the internet.
The award was presented to MyData Global for its work on “data as human right” at the 4YFN (4 Years from Now) startup event in Barcelona, Spain.
Next Generation Internet awards are given to the most impactful European initiatives and individuals creating a human-centric, trustworthy and sustainable internet.
“In the last few years, we’ve been flooded by scandals regarding data leaks,” said MyData general manager Teemu Ropponen. “The GDPR is a great starting point for improvement, but it alone is not enough. We want to see individuals given self-determination of their data and also want to see the development of new businesses and innovations based on personal data.”
The MyData initiative aims to help individuals to manage and reuse their personal data, which at the moment is almost exclusively controlled by government agencies and businesses.
“In China, personal data is used by the state for surveillance of its citizens,” Ropponen continued. “Some Silicon Valley tech giants advance surveillance capitalism, in which personal data is used in ways often unknown to the user. We want to advance a European alternative, in which individuals decide how our data is used and benefit from sharing that data.”
The global community supporting the MyData mission recently turned into a nonprofit organisation headquartered in Helsinki. In just over four months, its ranks have swelled to more than 500 members, including 70 organisations, from over 40 countries worldwide.