It is no longer a question, but a fact that the Internet is in the car. After discussing a number of useful mobile services in passenger cars, we have to conclude that our digital sovereignty will be lost if we do not take adequate measures. 

It is so easy - everything is for free, just check out the Internet! Click on a free App, download the App, install and run. One can find Apps for nearly everything. And for even the simplest pieces of information you give away whatever is stored about you on your phone. The image shows a quick example what you open up when installing a virus scan tool (I have checked at least 5 of them and only one out of 5 had a reduced set of requirements).

In the course of the ongoing digital transformation data owners will become part of the value chain - our data are valuable - we have to charge for their use!

Data are Entering Blue and White Collar Work

Digital transformation processes, as we know them from the first Internet hype in the year 2000, are entering more and more areas of our society. You find them in the ongoing industrial automation (Industry 4.0), automated driving of cars (autonomous vehicles) and the overall influence of information technology (IT) on mobility (integrated traffic management), or the automation of energy production and its distribution in the optimization of energy use.

Big data and Internet technologies are expected to play an important role for the implementation of a human and affordable health system. However, humans have to be in focus when designing the technology and its use. A decentralized approach and digital sovereignty of users are decisive qualities of the planned technology investments. We are all responsible for requesting and promoting these design criteria for the use of Internet technologies in our health system.

Digital sovereignty denotes the authority of individuals over their presence and representations in the digital world.

 The definition of digital sovereinty is relatively flurry due to its varying meanings. So for this brief discussion, we have searched for both: digital sovereignty and data sovereignty. What we found was that the terms' interpretations take mainly a governmental view based on definitions for "sovereignty" (different from the terms' use in Germany as discussed in Digitale Souveränität - Was ist das?).

Our digital alter ego  is abundant - and we better take care of it. The concept  of digital sovereignty should help us to manage it.

Each and every one of us has a digital alter ego. But who of us knows, where this alter ego is stored? Even more relevant: which attributes are associated with our alter ego? Or: who is making money from knowing or using our alter ego? May be only partially or in combination with other data? Digital sovereignty – the management or control of our alter ego in the digital world – should help us answer above questions when managing our digital alter ego.