Attention Rights
Every day, companies pay for access to human attention. We believe the person providing it should have a say in the transaction.
No payment. No app. A public statement of principle.
Advertisers pay to reach you. Platforms sell access to audiences. Your time completes the transaction.
Yet the person providing the scarce resource — attention — usually has no direct say in its price.
Direct compensation to you: usually €0.00
That is not the only possible model.
My attention belongs to me.You may ask for it.I may refuse.If I accept, we agree on its value.
Consent first. Value second.
Surveillance is not a requirement.
Estimate the time. Decide what that time is worth to you.
203 days over 40 years. At €25 an hour: €121,750.
203days
At €25 an hour: €121,750
Paid to me today
€0.00
This is not lost income. It is a way to visualise the value you personally assign to your time.
4,870 hours. Calculated on your device. Nothing is stored.
Today
Brand pays platformplatform selects audiencead appearsyou deal with it.
A different default
Brand makes an offeryou see the termsyou accept or declineonly then does the exchange happen.
Today: consent to the individual interruption is usually implicit or absent.
A different default: consent is explicit, refusal always available.
Before it asks for anything, a request shows its terms. All of them.
Attention request
Halvorsen Optics would like 45 seconds of your attention.
Illustrative example only.
An ad becomes an offer, not an interruption.
Not a terms-of-service footnote. A shared expectation for anyone who asks for a moment of your time.
Ownership
My time and attention are finite human resources. Access to them should not be treated as unlimited or automatically available.
Permission
The right to reach an audience should not automatically become the right to interrupt an individual.
Refusal
Declining an attention request should not require guilt, friction or punishment.
Transparency
Who wants my attention? For how long? Why was I selected? What happens if I accept?
Value
Advertisers already assign a price to attention. We believe the individual should be able to participate in that transaction.
Privacy
A system can match relevance without turning a human being into a permanent behavioural dossier.
We are not asking for the end of advertising. We are asking for a better contract between people and the systems competing for their time.
Now
Establish that attention belongs to the person providing it.
Next
Define what a transparent attention request must contain.
Planned
Test real voluntary attention transactions.
Future
Build the tools if the model proves itself.
We will build only what the idea earns the right to become.
I believe my attention belongs to me.
I believe access to my attention should be voluntary, transparent and respectful of my time.
If attention creates economic value, I believe the person providing it should have a meaningful say in that exchange.
We will show a supporter count only once real, confirmed people stand behind it.
No. Advertising can help people discover useful products, services and ideas. ATTN questions the default assumption that access to a person’s attention should be automatic. We support a model based on permission, transparency and choice.