The cloud centralizes data ownership in corporations that earlier internet models distributed.

Evidence

If data in the cloud is stored in data centers and not in personal computers, this brings up the very important question of who owns it. Whereas earlier models of the internet allowed for distributed ownership of resources that could be used collectively, the cloud centralizes ownership and establishes very specific parameters for how data is shared. Instead of data being stored at each individual computer and each individual node deciding what data to share or not share, the cloud represents a model in which data is stored in “banks” that are owned by private corporations. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 183

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the surveillance-capitalism school’s claim that platform infrastructure concentrates rather than distributes data control; maps where the colonialism frame and attention-economy frame converge on infrastructure. — connects to: Streaming norms exist because cloud ownership reduces users to data renters. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 184; Cloud platforms consolidated the platform into a powerful business model — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 58; Colonial-era information repositories prefigure today’s corporate data centers — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 313 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Cloud platforms consolidated the platform into a powerful business model #corroborates (0.85) — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 58
• Colonial-era information repositories prefigure today’s corporate data centers #complicates (0.70) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 313