You probably think that the Kindle book you bought last night or the skin you unlocked in Fortnite is yours. It isn't. Not really.
If you died tomorrow, or if a tech giant decided to shutter your account because of a TOS violation you didn't even read, that "property" would likely vanish into the ether. It’s a weird, digital limbo. We spend real money on things that we only actually "license."
Ownership used to be simple. You bought a hammer; you owned the hammer. You bought a CD; you could scratch it, sell it, or use it as a coaster. But in 2026, the concept of what belongs to you has become incredibly murky, buried under layers of End User License Agreements (EULAs) that nobody has the time or the legal degree to parse.
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The Illusion of Digital Property
Let’s talk about the "Buy" button. It’s a lie.
When you click "Buy" on an ebook or a digital movie, you aren’t actually purchasing a transfer of title. You’re purchasing a non-transferable right to access that content for as long as the provider sees fit. This isn't just a conspiracy theory; it’s a legal reality that has played out in courts for over a decade. In the famous case of Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc., the court basically ruled that if the software license says it’s a license, it’s a license—even if it looks like a sale.
Think about your Steam library. You might have thousands of dollars worth of games sitting there. But try to leave that library to your kids in your will. You can't. Most digital platforms explicitly forbid the transfer of accounts after death. You are, in essence, renting your digital life until you die.
It's a "Life Tenancy" for the digital age.
Your Data: The Part of You That Isn't Yours
Every time you walk past a sensor or scroll through a feed, you're generating data. Most people assume that because they generated it, they own it.
Wrong.
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In the United States, there is no federal law that says you own your personal data. Instead, we have a patchwork of privacy laws like California’s CCPA, which gives you the right to see it or delete it, but ownership? That’s different. The companies that collect your data—your heart rate from your smartwatch, your location history from your phone—treat that data as their intellectual property. They’ve "refined" the raw material of your life into a product.
The "Right to Repair" Battle
This ownership crisis extends to physical objects too. Have you ever tried to fix a modern tractor or a high-end smartphone?
John Deere became the poster child for this issue. For years, farmers argued that if they bought a tractor, they should be able to fix the software inside it. John Deere argued that the software was licensed, not sold. If the software makes the tractor move, and you don't own the software, do you really own the tractor?
- Physical hardware: Usually yours.
- Embedded firmware: Almost never yours.
- The right to modify: Restricted by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
It's a mess. We are moving toward a "subscription economy" where the goal of every corporation is to ensure you never actually own anything ever again.
Why Your Social Media Handle is Borrowed Space
Your online identity feels personal. It’s your face, your name, your thoughts. But your Instagram handle or your X (formerly Twitter) account is technically the property of the platform. They can take it back at any time.
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We saw this happen when X took over the "@x" handle from its original owner, Gene X. Hwang. He had it for years. Then, one day, it was gone. He was offered some merch and a meeting, but he had no legal recourse. Why? Because the terms of service usually state that you have no property rights in your username.
It’s borrowed land. You’re a sharecropper on a digital plantation, building value for a landlord who can evict you without notice.
The Legal Reality of "What Belongs to You"
Ownership is generally defined by a "bundle of rights." This bundle includes the right to use, the right to exclude others, the right to sell, and the right to destroy.
- If you can't sell it on eBay, you probably don't own it.
- If you can't bequeath it to an heir, it’s not yours.
- If the manufacturer can remotely disable it, your ownership is conditional.
Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz, authors of The End of Ownership, argue that we are losing the "notion of personal property." They point out that when we don't own our things, we lose our autonomy. We become dependent on corporations for the basic functioning of our daily lives. If your "smart" fridge requires a server connection to display your grocery list, and that company goes bankrupt, your fridge just became a very expensive paperweight.
Can Blockchain Fix This?
For a while, everyone thought NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) were the answer to what belongs to you in the digital world. The idea was that a token on a blockchain would represent true ownership.
It hasn't quite worked out that way.
An NFT is often just a pointer—a URL leading to a JPEG. If the server hosting that JPEG goes down, you own a token that points to nothing. While the technology could theoretically allow for decentralized ownership, we are still stuck in a world where the "off-chain" legal systems don't necessarily recognize what the "on-chain" ledger says.
Strategies to Reclaim Your Property
So, what do you actually do? How do you make sure your stuff stays your stuff? You have to be intentional. It's about choosing "dumb" over "smart" and "local" over "cloud."
- Buy Physical Media: If you love a movie or a book, buy the physical copy. No one can "de-authorize" a paper book on your shelf.
- Support DRM-Free Platforms: Use services like GOG for games or Bandcamp for music. These platforms often allow you to download installers that don't require an internet connection or a "check-in" with a central server to work.
- Self-Host Your Data: Instead of putting every photo on Google Photos, consider a NAS (Network Attached Storage) at home. It’s a bit more work, but the data is physically in your house.
- Read the "Death" Clauses: Look at the "Digital Legacy" settings on your Apple or Google accounts. These allow you to designate someone to access your data after you're gone. It’s not full ownership transfer, but it’s the closest we have right now.
- Opt for Open Source: Use software like Linux or LibreOffice. When the code is open, no single corporation can take it away from you or force you into a subscription model.
The trend of "everything as a service" isn't going away. In fact, it's accelerating. Car companies are now trying to charge monthly fees for heated seats—hardware that is already inside the car you paid for.
Ownership is a muscle. If we don't exercise it by demanding the right to repair and the right to truly buy, we’ll eventually find ourselves in a world where we own nothing, and the "peace of mind" promised by subscriptions will feel a lot like a permanent bill we can never stop paying.
Take stock of your digital life today. If you lost access to your primary email account right now, how much of "your" property would you lose with it? That's the real litmus test for what truly belongs to you.
Actionable Steps for Digital Sovereignty
To protect what is yours, start by auditing your most valuable digital assets. Export your data from major platforms using tools like Google Takeout or Apple's Data and Privacy portal at least once a year. Store these backups on an encrypted physical hard drive that you keep in your possession.
Next, prioritize buying from vendors that offer "Perpetual Licenses" rather than monthly subscriptions whenever the option exists. Finally, support legislative efforts for "Right to Repair" in your local jurisdiction. True ownership in the 21st century isn't a given; it's something you have to actively defend through your purchasing habits and your political voice.