MyData Declaration
MyData wants to build a world where people are empowered with their own data. A world where we have:
- The ability to use our data independently in interactions with organisations and for our own purposes
- Greater agency through the effective assertion of our human and legal data rights
- Safety and protection from imbalances of data power and abuses of our data
- A better understanding of how our data is collected and used, by who, and how we can control its use.
Personal data empowerment is good for individuals and good for the communities and societies in which we live. It opens up new opportunities for economic growth and personal fulfilment.
Everyone can contribute to achieving the MyData mission – individuals, communities, organisations, policymakers, service providers, technology innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, funders and many more.
MyData’s goal is to bring them all together, collaborating in a common cause to create data ecosystems that are fair, transparent and human-centric.
Come and join us in this mission.
Sign the MyData Declaration
How to Participate
You can sign the MyData Declaration as an individual and/or as an organisation using the form above.
You can also use the MyData Declaration to further your own projects and intentions. Base your trust framework, or your terms of service, on it. Use it to lobby and convince clients, partners, and stakeholders. And please, let us know, so we can all benefit from your experience!
To contribute to further development of the Declaration, or to participate in thematic working groups or local hubs applying the Declaration in practice, consider joining the MyData Global community.
About MyData Declaration
The MyData Declaration is the charter and “north star” mission document of the MyData movement and philosophy. It describes our dedication to improving how data is governed and individuals are empowered, independent of specific technologies, business developments, or political contexts.
Signing the Declaration shows your support for personal data empowerment and is the first step to becoming a member of the MyData community, where champions and innovators from businesses, public agencies, research institutions, and social movements around the world collaborate and share to advance our mission.
The Declaration is the constitutional document of the MyData Global Association, as reflected in the Association’s bylaws.
Evolution
V1.0
The MyData Declaration emerged out of the European Personal Information Management Services (PIMS) Community, which met in Brussels (November, 2015), Paris (April, 2016), Helsinki (August, 2016), London (December, 2016), and Berlin (March, 2017). More specifically, the Berlin meetings produced a memorandum that stated two complementary goals:
- To establish a MyData Global Network as a legal entity.
- To start by developing a common set of principles for human-centric personal data.
The first edition of the MyData Declaration is the response to the second goal.
The first edition of the MyDeclaration was written by Antti “Jogi” Poikola (Finland), Daniel Kaplan (France), Tanel Mällo (Estonia), based on a close reading of 20 existing charters and statements of principles, and validated by the emerging MyData community at workshops and a 2-week online comment period that received more than 90 comments. Key contributors included David Alexander, Malte Bayer-Katzenberger, Simon Carroll, Fabien Coutant, Paul-Olivier Dehaye, Katryna Dow, Harri Honko, Viivi Lähteenoja, Joss Langford, Hubert Le Lièpvre, Joachim Lohcamp, Maarten Louman, Maciei Machulak, Robert Madge, Jack Mitchell, Michele Nati, Tristan Nitot, Kei Ohashi, Juuso Parkkinen, Julian Ranger, Geoff Revill, Clara Schmitt, Doc Searls, Tarmo Toikkanen, Luk Vervenne, and Colin Wallis.
The resulting Declaration was signed by 1768 individuals and organisations, and was translated into 15 languages. You can download the V1.0 Declaration text, list of signatories, and translations into Catalan, Chinese (traditional, Taiwan), Chinese (traditional, Hong Kong), Chinese (simplified, China), French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.
V2.0
In 2023, the development of MyData Global Strategy 2024-2026 prompted community questions about the MyData Declaration and a desire to update and reaffirm the Declaration as the community’s “north star”. This led to the following process:
- Staff analysis to prepare for the update included publication of the 4th Edition of the MyData White Paper, which assesses the current landscape and asserts a series of provocations for the MyData Declaration, and which was discussed as an input to the update process in an April Town Hall that discussed the Declaration and how it might be updated.
- A final community sprint at the end of 2025, including fortnightly open workshops, an online survey about the MyData principles, an editable version of the MyData Declaration, and an in-person collaborative workshop held at the 2025 MyData Conference in Espoo, Finland. These processes emphasised core conceptual pillars for the declaration, and a strategic emphasis on concise, powerful, and movement-building language (see this slide deck from the conference closing ceremony).
- A final editorial sprint, convened weekly meetings between a small group of volunteers from Dec 2025 through Jan 2026. The group included Alan Mitchell, Fredrik Linden, Henrik Biering, Iain Henderson, and Joss Langford and was coordinated by Eduardo Mercovich.
- The resulting Declaration Draft was approved by the Board of MyData Global on 4 December 2025 and approved by the general membership in an extraordinary General Meeting on 26 January 2026.