On the day and on the site where the US Constitution was signed in 1787, a group of professors will be hosting the first Constitutional Summit Meeting in Philadelphia, PA to imagine and debate the state of the global Internet and the individual’s control of their data as a human right.
Over 150 guests, including political, social, and business leaders are expected to attend, with the event being streamed globally and available to all.
Being organized by YouRize, a “digital-self services company” founded earlier this year, the event will address the alarming lack of choices regarding the collection and use of their personal, private information by media and social media companies, e-commerce platforms, advertisers and brands, service providers and more.
“Today's internet design puts corporations in charge of our personal data. This is creating huge problems for many people,” said Judah Thornewill, Chief Executive Officer of YouRize. “We are building a fundamentally new kind of company in society. What makes us different is that we work for the individual. Our Digital-self services put peoples' data in their hands and helps them use it to live the lives they want.”
YouRize is working on balancing between individuals, these companies, and organizations fundamental to the “digital economy” by providing software that puts the control of data back into the hands of the individual who can decide what he or she shares with which parties to make their lives more convenient, while at the same time protecting their right to privacy and personal safety.
"We believe that this approach can have special impact on lower and middle-income communities, by helping them unlock untapped economic value,” said Tom Walton, Chief Operating Officer. “We are working in Louisville and other communities in the US and India on strategies for empowering populations of people using this new approach.”
“In today's world, each of us is leaving behind a stream of digital data just by living our lives,” said Nick Vitalari, Chief Revenue and Products Officer. “This data has tremendous untapped value - for individuals and organizations. We are unlocking this value by putting the data in the hands of individuals.”
On July 4th, US Independence Day, the company announced their “launch of the YouRize Digital-Self Revolution (News - Alert). The global initiative is designed to encourage individuals to own and control their personal data and receive monetary compensation for sharing it.”
As part of the announcement, Judah Thornewill, PhD, CEO of YouRize said, “We believe personally-owned data has the potential to create new wealth for everyday people everywhere. But success requires scale. The more people participate, the faster we can make this a reality.”
This is where blockchain comes in.
YouRize has developed a core technology design, featuring a combination of next generation encrypted cloud technologies, and blockchain based security technologies. Research that led to these innovations was done at the University of Louisville, with support from National Science Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, and others over several years.
The company is working with best-in-class information technology hardware and network partners to ensure privacy and security of each person's Digital-Self Lockbox over a lifetime.
William Yasnoff, part of the movement, an MD with a PhD in Computer Science, and a former senior official with U.S. Health and Human Services, said, “Our Digital-Self platform design uses a secure data-management method we developed called personal grid architecture with blockchain permissions. Each individual digital data lockbox is separately encrypted, and no-one can access any part of it without their permission. That includes us.”
Starting today, August 7, with three thirty-minute webinars to kick off the Constitutional Convention for the Digital-Self online, the company and supporting academics, students, policy makers, business leaders, consumer advocacy groups and others will host additional webinars leading up to the mid-September summit.
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
