The Data Human Index
How human does a brand’s data experience actually feel?
Most brands say they respect your data. The Index measures whether they actually do, using only what any user can observe, in about twenty minutes.
Why this matters
You already feel it. You just can’t name it yet.
You feel it when a cancellation flow traps you. When a cookie banner is designed to be clicked, not read. When a privacy policy exists purely to protect the brand, not to inform you.
These are not oversights. They are decisions.
The Data Human Index puts a number on that feeling. For curious people, it is a way to understand what they are experiencing. For brands, it is a starting point for doing better.
The five dimensions
One question per dimension. No inside access required.
Each dimension is scored zero to four based on a single observable question.
Transparency
Can people find out what is being collected and why?
Consent
Is sharing data a real choice?
Clarity
Would someone actually understand what they are agreeing to?
Control
Is withdrawing as easy as granting?
Empathy
Is this designed for real people or ideal ones?
What each point means
What the score tells you
A number that means something.
The Index is scored out of twenty across five dimensions. Here is what landing in each band actually means, for the brand and for you as a user.
Data practices are built around the brand's needs. Users are a source of value, not a person to be respected. Expect dark patterns, buried controls and walls of legal text.
Some genuine effort is visible but significant gaps remain. Probably compliant on paper, but not yet designed for trust. You can navigate it, but you have to work for it.
Real care is present across most dimensions with one or two specific weaknesses. The brand is thinking about the user experience of data, not just the legal requirement.
Transparent, respectful and genuinely designed with the user in mind. These brands treat data as a relationship, not a resource.
Real scores, real brands
We scored these brands ourselves, one dimension at a time.
Using only what any visitor can observe in a private browser window. No inside access, no special tools.
Scores at the ceiling on Transparency and Clarity. Scores at the floor on Consent and Control. The information is there but the power is not.
The only brand in our dataset to score zero on any dimension, Consent. Yet account deletion is easier here than on almost any brand we have scored.
The score is just the starting point. The shape is where the story is.
Try it yourself
Score any brand in about twenty minutes
Pre-loaded with Facebook and TikTok, two brands that both score 12/20 for completely different reasons. Hit Clear form to score your own brand instead.
Brand A
Scores
Evidence notes
Brand B
Scores
Evidence notes
Take it with you
Download the DHI Scorecard
A printable version of the scoring framework with evidence notes, free to use for personal or professional projects.
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This is an ongoing project
The Index is part of a larger body of work on human-centred data strategy. Follow along on LinkedIn for new brand analyses, framework updates and the thinking behind the scores.