API of You

The observation

In 2012 I wasn't much of a social-app user. I disliked the thought of my personal content being used to feed advertising. Identity, content and digital records were scattered across companies and services. I wondered what would change if those records belonged first to the individual.

The idea

I remember thinking about API of You while walking around New York. I imagined a personal data home in which consent, portability and value sat with the person. The individual would be the source of truth, choosing what to keep private, what to share, who could benefit from access to their personal information and for what purpose.

I also liked the idea that people might benefit financially when somebody used their data commercially, rather than leaving all that value with a platform. I wasn't arguing that nothing should be shared. The point was to choose the terms.

What happened

API of You remained a concept.

What I think now

I still believe people should have much more control over the rights attached to their own data. If you want something deleted, it should be deleted. If you want to share something, you should decide who receives it. If you're willing for some of your data to help advertisers or other commercial services, that should be your decision too.

My view of social platforms has softened because I value the connections they make possible. That's also the hard part I didn't solve: people go where the people they want to connect with already are. API of You would have needed to offer both control over data and a reason for that network to move. I don't think the core idea was wrong, but adoption would have been difficult.