What does a democratic use of tech look like?

Technology is a set of tools that are made to help people operate better. People should be at the center when using technologies. The term "user" is a misnomer, as it implies some passive compliance with what the tool is doing. People are more than users. They are also technology enablers. They decide to use technology for reasons that help them do what they have to do. Companies are not different. They have goals and they create or purchase technologies to accomplish those goals.

An important concept is ownership. Someone who creates data owns this data. This has been the case for centuries for art and literature, and it also applies to information created within a company. The recent evolution of technology has created a new problem that didn't exist before. The providers of software behave as if the data that people create with their tools belong to them. [^See Cory Doctorow, Enshittification.] Companies either directly sell their information (media, bookstores, etc.) or use the information they create as a support to sell their products or services. Some organizations, such as the government, provide data to their customers (i.e., citizens) for free.

Entities that create information may want to keep some of their information confidential, and therefore decide to share some of the sensitive data only to a selected group of people.

The way information is accessed is key to a company's success. If the company has information to share that is hard to find, it loses the value that goes with this information. The most efficient way to find information is through linking. Links are hints that some information is available on a subject that could be of interest for the consumers. Therefore, the set of links that are used as ways to find information is extremely important.

The information created by a governmental organization funded with taxpayer money should be available at no cost to the public, because the public has invested money to fund the government. A democratic society that acknowledges the fact that society is at the service of its people gives back to the "owners", i.e. the people.