Your voice. Your choice.

Your voice is not a single permission.

A recording can preserve a moment. A synthetic voice can create words you never said. An interactive avatar can answer questions you have never been asked. Those uses deserve separate decisions.

AI can make communication more accessible and help families keep meaningful memories. It can also make a convincing imitation without the person’s agreement. The question is who decides what that imitation may do.

Agreement to one does not tell someone your wishes about the others. A clear instruction names the use, the audience, the purpose and the limits.

“Keep my messages” can mean exactly that.

Imagine you leave a voice message for your sister. You want her to keep it and play it privately with family. You do not want anyone to train a model on it, generate new sentences in your voice, or let strangers question an avatar.

Another person may welcome a private avatar with clear boundaries. Someone else may be undecided. None of these choices should be assumed from a public social profile, a family relationship or the fact that a recording exists.

Ask who can access the material, what new content can be created, whether it leaves the service, and how permission can be withdrawn. A promise to “keep your memories alive” is not enough detail to make that choice.

A choice needs a way to change it.

Consent should remain understandable after the first click. Keep a dated copy, name the uses you permit and tell recipients when your instructions change. Check each service’s controls and terms before sharing material.

A downloaded card is a record, not a remote switch. Updating your Ownbeing instructions cannot recall images you have shared or automatically remove material held elsewhere. Deleting a source file is also different from reversing any training that already happened.

For plans after death, discuss your wishes with trusted people and get appropriate legal advice when you need enforceable arrangements. An instruction card is not a will, government ID or proof that someone is entitled to receive private data.

Three things you can do today.

1. Make your own choices explicit.

   Create your free Ownbeing card. You can download an image without an account, or verify your email to save and manage your instructions.

   Create my card

2. Reduce exposure and challenge misuse.

   Review public recordings and account permissions. If you receive a suspicious call, verify it through a number you already trust. A familiar voice alone is not proof of identity.

   Find a protection step

3. Keep only what you intend to keep.

   If you want to preserve data or leave future messages, explore SEED’s private-vault project and request its separate Legacy card. Vault and Legacy are in early access; a request does not transfer your Ownbeing data.

   Explore SEED Legacy

What we want companies and policymakers to change.

Ownbeing’s starting position is that people should be able to understand, refuse and withdraw specific uses of their identity. We want to develop this position with people affected by AI, researchers and the people building it.

• Separate the choices. Distinguish preservation, training, generation, sharing, interaction and representation instead of bundling them into one broad permission.
• Make refusal practical. Provide a clear route to report unauthorized replicas, challenge decisions and understand the response.
• Explain the limits. Say what withdrawal can stop, what data is retained and what cannot be recalled.
• Show where content came from. Content credentials and AI labels can add context. They do not, by themselves, prove truth or permission.
• Protect useful uses. Support accessibility, creativity and research with safeguards proportionate to the risk and meaningful human oversight.

These are proposals for discussion, not a statement that every country already provides these rights. We will revise them as evidence and public input develop.