Press

The emerging market that could kill the iPhone A handful of tech startups are competing for a foothold in the nascent market for personal data control. And that could mean major changes for the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft.
By Francesca Robin, contributor

How then to profit? Kaliya Hamlin, a privacy and user-centric advocate and executive director of the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium, shared sections of an unpublished report “Personal Data Landscape,” which outlines three primary business models. As an example, data stored in lockers or accessed via real-time Web browsing can be explicitly for sale-by-owner, or brokered through third-party vendors who sell the information to advertisers. Or, with data aggregation services, users pool their data with others into a larger repository that’s sold (or shared) with businesses and services. “There are likely many more models,” stresses Hamlin.

The Customer as a God Businesses today tend to herd customers as if they were cattle, but a revolution in personal empowerment is under way—and buying will never be the same again. By Doc Searls [of Project VRM]

This article does not mention PDEC by name or any of the companies but does a great job of painting a picture of the future with personal clouds and services around them.

Personal Data Vaults Put You in Control of Your Data Online New startups have emerged to help consumers secure, manage, and share their personal data exclusively with trusted individuals, companies, and institutions.
By Mark Sullivan, PCWorld
This article covers Personal indepth and also highlights several other Consortium Members on the 2nd page: Qiy, Lifedash, Allfiled and Mydex

O’Brien: Kaliya Hamlin tackles our online identities by Chris O’Brien in the San Jose Mercury News, March 7th, 2012

On Tuesday, the World Economic Forum acknowledged Hamlin’s work in this area by announcing she was one of the 192 people from around the world selected for its Young Global Leaders program. The WEF is based in Switzerland, and is perhaps best known for organizing the annual Davos forum.

People like Hamlin interest me because they constitute what I think of as tech’s quiet influencers. Their power doesn’t flow from holding a big corporate title, but from their passion around a subject and their ability to persuade others through their writing, talks and research.

Web Chat: Protecting Online Privacy hosted by Allan A. Friedman, Fellow, Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution

 12:42 Comment From Robert E: Could stronger measures to protect data stifle innovation in the tech sector?

12:43 Allan Friedman: On some level, these rules could stop a firm from finding new ways to exploit consumer data. There’s no question about that, any more than other popular consumer protection laws such as automobile safety or drug testing can have that unintended effect. However, I would argue that finding ways to engage consumers while respecting their privacy and giving them control of their own data could create far more opportunities for innovation. For example, the “personal data ecosystem” movement aims to shift control of data to consumers, allowing more opportunities for people and firms to exploit the value of our digital lives

Your Virtual Self: Who Owns It and What’s It Worth? by Nick DeMartino at  TheWrap on Nov 14, 2011 via Reuters

Even larger forces are at work in the geek community to organize around individual control of data, for instance, the Personal Data Ecosystem, a consortium that is working on creating user-centric digital identity schemes, some of which were explored at the Internet Identity Workshop, convened last week.

Call It Your Online Driver’s License by Natasha Singer, September 17, 2011

Industry experts expect that each authentication technology would rely on at least two different ID confirmation methods. Those might include embedding an encryption chip in people’s phones, issuing smart cards or using one-time passwords or biometric identifiers like fingerprints to confirm substantial transactions. Banks already use two-factor authentication, confirming people’s identities when they open accounts and then issuing depositors with A.T.M. cards, says Kaliya Hamlin, an online identity expert known by the name of her Web site, Identity Woman.

Should We Monetize Personal Energy Consumption Data? by Christine Hertzog July 4, 2011 on the SmartData Collective

This energy consumption data may benefit from a new approach to the growing awareness of the value of personal data.  There’s an interesting organization called the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium that promotes the idea that “individuals control their own data by enabling a thriving network of businesses around personal data stores and services.”  I like the idea of an ecosystem that lets me benefit from my data. After all, if it is valuable enough for grocery store chains to entice me to share it in exchange for cents off of items, then perhaps there are other ways I can gain value from my data. The same could be true for energy consumption data.  My energy consumption data could have value to utilities and to other companies that could offer me solutions that range from home energy audit services to more energy-efficient appliances.