In today’s world, using digital devices, we generate data. Much of it is collected and stored. To make the personal data ecosystem a reality we need to figure out how to collect the information from devices and store it in our own personal data stores. So far figuring this out has just been an idea – we are going to gather a community to solve this technical challenge that is key to people being able to aggregate their own information.
We also have the challenge that when we use a third party identity provider like Facebook, or any OpenID provider, to login to a site, our credentials are then linked to that account AND those third party services are also providing data. The challenge is: what happens to accounts based on third party services that go out of business or terminate a user’s account?
The vision for the Personal Data Ecosystem is that end users have the freedom to move their data between service providers – personal data store hosts. Just like people today have the freedom to move their money between banks.
There are currently two different open source projects working on developing the personal data store infrastructure, Project Nori and Higgins. We are open to learning about new projects and companies that are in this space. Please use our contact form to let us know if you are interest in engaging with us on the development of personal data storage.