The ownership of data generated by users of a particular service can be a complex legal and ethical issue. In general, there are three potential parties who could claim ownership of this data: the user, the service provider, and third parties who may be involved in processing or analyzing the data.

From a legal perspective, the ownership of user-generated data may be determined by the terms and conditions agreed upon by the user and the service provider. Usually such terms are non-modifiable and require users’ consent to have access to use of service.

Many countries have data protection laws that require service providers to obtain user consent before collecting and processing their data. This aims to protect the rights users have over their data.

From an ethical perspective, there are arguments to be made for both user and service provider ownership of user-generated data.

In practice, access and control over all collected data is usually retained within the company providing the service.