How Data Becomes a Paycheck: A Rare, Expert-Level Discussion With Preska Thomas

Today people rarely stop to ask themselves why they feel so tired, so watched, so manipulated. For years we’ve lived inside systems that extract from us quietly—our data, our time, our attention—while giving us little clarity and even less control. The world became more connected, yes, but also more invasive. And somewhere in that transformation, the ordinary user stopped being treated like a human and began being treated like a product.

Preska Thomas, founder of DebitMyData™, is one of the few innovators who built a company by starting not with technology, but with emotion. She recognized an invisible but universal pain most people couldn’t even articulate: the emotional exhaustion of being digitally used without consent or compensation. Instead of accepting the standard “free access in exchange for surveillance,” she set out to design an entirely new digital economy—one where users own their data, control it, and get paid for the value they create.

Her work doesn’t just disrupt tech; it restores dignity. Today, she joins us to unpack the eight deep emotional pressures people feel in the digital age and how DebitMyData™ is building a new system around fairness, ownership, and human agency.

Preska, many people say they feel like something is being taken from them online, even though they can’t quite define what it is. What’s actually going on?

Preska: What they’re feeling is quiet extraction. Every single digital action—whether it’s browsing, scrolling, purchasing, or even simply pausing on a piece of content—creates a piece of data that gets collected, analyzed, repackaged, and sold. Users don’t see it, they don’t approve it, and they certainly don’t get paid for it. Over time, that creates a psychological sense of being exploited without understanding the mechanics behind the exploitation. I built DebitMyData™ because I wanted people to finally see the hidden economy that feeds on them. And once they see it, I want them to reclaim their rightful position as owners, not victims. You produce value every day online. You deserve to earn a living from it.

People often feel lost in the digital world. They don’t understand who is tracking them or why. Is this a lack of awareness, or is the system intentionally confusing?

Preska: The confusion is by design. The architecture of the digital world was built to maximize data collection, not transparency. Companies use vague language, long policies, and complex tracking systems because clarity would threaten their revenue models. People think they’re uninformed, but in reality, they were never given a real chance to understand in the first place. DebitMyData™ is about reversing that imbalance. I want users to understand what data is being taken, how it is being used, and what it is actually worth. When people see the financial and behavioral value of their own information laid out clearly, the confusion dissolves and control naturally returns to them.

You’ve said privacy is no longer a right but a privilege. What do you mean by that?

Preska: We’ve reached a point where protecting your privacy requires tools, subscriptions, and a level of technical literacy most people simply don’t have time to acquire. Privacy used to be the default; now it’s the upgrade. And that creates a new kind of digital inequality where only the wealthy or tech-savvy can shield themselves.  With DebitMyData™, privacy isn’t sold as a separate service—it’s integrated into the structure of ownership. When people control their data, they automatically control their privacy. When they choose who can access their information, privacy becomes a natural outcome, not a paid feature. I believe privacy should be built into the economy, not priced above it.

Many users say being online feels emotionally heavy. How much of that is connected to data harvesting?

Preska: Almost all of it. When algorithms are fueled by personal data, they’re not just recommending content—they’re shaping behavior. These systems are optimized to keep people hooked, agitated, reactive, and emotionally pliable. It’s not accidental; it’s engineered. And when the machine knows you better than you know yourself, it can predict your vulnerabilities and exploit your emotional patterns. That leads to fatigue, self-doubt, and even a sense of losing your own free will. DebitMyData™ breaks that cycle by removing the exploitative relationship. People are compensated for their digital presence rather than manipulated by it. When individuals are rewarded instead of drained, their relationship with technology becomes healthier, not heavier.

You’ve talked about creator inequality before. What is fundamentally broken in the creator economy?

Preska: Creators generate enormous value—they build communities, culture, trends, influence, and identity—but they receive only a fraction of what they produce. The rest is captured by platforms through advertising, data mining, and behavioral tracking. Even when creators “earn,” the platform takes the largest slice because it controls the infrastructure. DebitMyData™ introduces something radically different: data-based royalties. When a creator’s audience interacts online, that engagement produces data value. We tokenize these interactions using NFTs and attention-based tokens so creators receive ongoing profit from the data economy surrounding their content. This isn’t another monetization tool; it’s a structural shift from payment to equity. Creators deserve residual income because they are the true owners of the digital culture.

Trust in major platforms seems to be collapsing. Is that fixable?

Preska: Trust can absolutely be rebuilt, but never through marketing or PR. People will trust the digital world again only when the systems themselves are redesigned to be transparent. DebitMyData™ uses smart contracts and tokenized permissions to create a crystal-clear audit trail for users. They can see exactly what data they shared, with whom, for how long, and what compensation they received. There’s no guessing, no hidden clauses, no buried settings. Trust is not an emotion—it’s the outcome of a system designed to protect the user rather than exploit them. And I believe the next generation of digital companies must make trust a feature, not a promise.

The constant stream of notifications, settings, and consent pop-ups is exhausting. How does DebitMyData™ avoid becoming another burden?

Preska: By prioritizing simplicity. The tech industry often assumes that giving users control means overwhelming them with endless options. But real control is clarity, not complexity. DebitMyData™ consolidates everything into one environment where consent, privacy, monetization, and data access decisions are all managed intuitively. Instead of dozens of confusing choices, people have one place that governs their entire digital footprint. When technology is designed with human psychology in mind, it becomes an ally instead of another source of stress. I believe people deserve calm digital experiences, not chaotic ones.

Tech companies market themselves as “free.” You challenge that narrative strongly. Why?

Preska: Because nothing is truly free. When users aren’t paying with money, they’re paying with something far more valuable—their personal information, their habits, their identity signatures, their behavioral patterns. The tragedy is that people didn’t even realize what they were giving away. DebitMyData™ corrects that imbalance by allowing users to continue accessing digital services but with the added benefit of compensation for the value they contribute. They receive ownership, transparency, and income. They become partners in the system rather than passive subjects of it. Fairness isn’t an ideal—it’s the foundation of a functioning digital economy.