We have all heard the old adage about the internet: “If the product is free, you are the product.”

For the last decade, we understood the transaction. We posted photos of our holidays, our meals, and our children, and in exchange, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn scanned those images to show us targeted ads. They wanted to know if we needed nappies or a new car.

But recently, the “price” of these free apps has quietly changed. The transaction is no longer just about advertising. It is about education—but not for us.

The New “Opt-In” You Didn’t Click #

In late 2025, a shift occurred in the terms of service for several major platforms. Companies including Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and LinkedIn updated their policies to allow them to use user-generated content to train their Artificial Intelligence models.

In plain English? When you upload a photo of your child’s first day of school to a free cloud platform, you aren’t just storing a memory. You are potentially feeding a dataset.

You are teaching a machine what a “child” looks like, how they dress, how they play, and how parents speak to them. The “cloud” isn’t just a storage locker anymore; it’s a classroom for AI, and our personal lives are the textbooks.

The “Someone Else’s Computer” Problem #

This brings us to a core concept I talk about often: Data Sovereignty.

We tend to think of the “Cloud” as a private digital bank vault. We imagine our data sitting in a little box with our name on it, locked away until we need it.

In reality, the Cloud is just someone else’s computer.

And that “someone” usually has shareholders to please. When their business model shifts from “selling ads” to “building AI,” your data is repurposed to fuel that new goal. Because the data lives on their computer, they set the rules.

How to Reclaim Your Digital Sovereignty (Right Now) #

This isn’t meant to scare you. Technology is a tool, and like any tool, you just need to know how to handle it safely. You don’t need to delete your accounts to improve your privacy. You just need to change the default settings.

Here is a quick experiment for this weekend:

1. Open your favorite social app (Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn).
2. Navigate to Settings.
3. Look for a section labeled “Data Privacy,” “Privacy Center,” or “Generative AI.”
4. You will likely find a toggle switch regarding “Data for AI Improvement” or “AI Training.”
5. Check the status. In many regions, this is turned ON by default.

Flip the switch. Turn it off.

By doing this, you aren’t just changing a setting. You are exercising a tiny, powerful piece of sovereignty. You are drawing a boundary around your family’s digital life and saying, “This belongs to us.”

The Future of Family Data #

I believe that the future of digital life isn’t about hiding in a bunker; it’s about ownership. It’s about understanding where your data physically lives and ensuring that the only people learning from your family memories are… your family.

Take five minutes this Saturday to check your settings. It’s a small step, but it’s the beginning of taking control back.

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