Data labour as alienated or liberated labour? Proposals for radical economic change from the Silicon Valley in the light of technological reification

This article delivers a critical analysis of the proposal to pay wages or royalties to data providers for any form of provision of digital data. It has been developed primarily by researchers of the Microsoft research department. The proposal to create mediators of individual data as trade unions of data providers aims at economic inclusion of everyday users of computers and smartphones. The article analyses the shortcomings of the proposal which does not consider the issue that many workers are obliged to provide data at their workplaces, and the problem of increasing digital tracking of workers’ productive activities. Furthermore, the proposal to pay wages for everyday activities lacks any strategy or vision to create more meaningful and satisfying work relations.