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Personal, Inc. (now digi.me after 2017 merger)
Company typePrivate
IndustryInternet
Founded2009
HeadquartersWashington, D.C., US and Farnham, United Kingdom

Personal (also referred to as Personal.com or Personal, Inc.) was a consumer personal data service and identity management system for individuals to aggregate, manage and reuse their own data. It merged with digi.me in August 2017, a business in Europe that has the same business model.[1][2][3] The combined company is called digi.me. One of its product lines, a collaborative data management and information security solution for the workplace called TeamData, was spun off as a new company as a result of the merger.[4][5]

History

[edit]

Personal was founded in 2009 in Washington, DC by the management team that built The Map Network, a location data and mapping platform that was acquired by Nokia/NAVTEQ in 2006.[6] Personal was the first online consumer-facing company to be named an Ambassador for Privacy by Design for its technical, business and legal commitments to providing users with control over the data they store in Personal's service.[7][8][9][10] Called a “life management platform” by The Economist[11] and a “personal encrypted cloud service” by TIME for its user-centric approach to data,[12] the company has been associated with both the Infomediary model originated in 1999 by John Hagel III and Mark Singer, as well as the vendor relationship management (VRM) model developed by Doc Searls. Personal raised $30m in funding to develop its platform and products from such leading investors as Steve Case's Revolution Ventures, Grotech Ventures, Allen & Company, Ted Leonsis, Neil Ashe, Jonathan Miller, Bill Miller of Legg Mason, Esther Dyson of EDventures, and Eric C. Anderson.[13][14]

The company received recognition for its user agreement, called the Owner Data Agreement,[15] which acted like a reverse license agreement when data was shared between registered parties and emphasized that data ownership resides with the user. Doc Searls wrote in The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge that the Owner Data Agreement “had no precedent and modeled a new legal position, both for vendors and for intermediaries.”[16] Personal was early to embrace “small data,” which it defines as “big data for the benefit of individuals.”[17] The term “small data” may have been originally coined by Jeremie Miller of Sing.ly, who mentioned it in a talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in November 2011 and is cited in The Intention Economy.[18] In 2011, Personal was a part of the first group of companies to join the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium's Startup Circle.[19] A Small Data Meetup group has also formed in New York City, bringing together technology, legal and business experts to exchange ideas about user-centric and user-driven models for internet products and services.[20] Personal has been included in case studies by Ctrl-Shift and Forrester regarding Personal Data Stores and Personal Identity Management.[21][22]

In 2011, Personal received the Innovator Spotlight Award at Privacy Identity Innovation Conference (pii2011) and participated in the Technology Showcase at pii2012.[23][24] In 2012, TechHive named Personal as one of the top five apps or web services of SXSW.[25] Personal won the 2013 Campus Technology Innovators Award with Lone Star College in July 2013.[26] Personal was included in a list of Executive Travel Magazine's favorite travel apps for 2013 in its May/June issue.[27] In 2013, Personal was also included as part of NYU GovLab's Open Data 500 and was named by J. Walter Thompson as one of 100 things to watch for in 2014.[28][29] In 2015, the National Law Journal named Company Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel, Joshua P. Galper, as one of their 50 "Cybersecurity & Privacy Trailblazers."[30]

Products and services

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Overview

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The Personal Platform was a privacy- and security-by-design platform for individuals to manage and reuse their own data and information. The Fill It app was a 1-click form-filling solution for web and mobile logins, checkouts and forms, and the Data Vault app served as the main cloud-based repository for a user's data. Personal helped individuals take control and benefit from their information while knowing that the information in their Data Vault remained legally theirs and could not be used without their permission.[31]

Data Vault with Cloud Sync

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Personal spent two years building the Personal Platform before launching its Data Vault product in beta in November 2011. Following Privacy by Design principles, Personal only enabled users to see or share the sensitive data and all the files they stored in their Data Vault. Such information was encrypted, and could only be decrypted with a user's password. Only users could choose and know their passwords to their vault because Personal did not store user passwords – and therefore could not reset them without deleting a user's sensitive data and all files stored in their vault.[32] All Personal apps and services were linked to a user's private Data Vault.

The Data Vault featured automatic synchronization of data and files added on any device logged into Personal. It also featured a “Secure Share” function that created a live, private network, allowing registered users to share access to data and files through an exchange of encrypted keys without the risk of transmitting the data or files through non-secure, direct means. It also allowed users to immediately update data across their own network and revoke access to it when they choose. Fast Company called the Data Vault “a tool that will simplify our lives.”[33]

Personal launched its Android app on November 30, 2011.[34][35] The iOS Data Vault app was released on May 7, 2012.[36] Personal officially launched its application programming interface (APIs) on October 2, 2012 at the Mashery Business of APIs Conference.[37] A review by CNET highlighted the challenges of getting people to trust such a new service with their sensitive data and spending the time required entering enough data to make it useful.[38]

Fill It App and Form Index

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When the Data Vault was launched in November 2011, Mashable posed the question: “Never Fill Out a Form Again?”[34] The World Economic Forum in its February 2013 report highlighted the possibility of saving 10 billion hours globally “and improv[ing] the delivery of public and private sector services” through automated form-filling tools, specifically citing Personal's Fill It app.[39] In January 2013, Personal launched Fill It in beta as a web bookmarklet for automatic form-filling.[40]

On June 11, 2014, Personal released Fill It as a web extension and announced that it was publishing an index of over 140,000 1-click online forms at www.fillit.com.[41] The company also announced that a mobile version of the product will launch later in the year. According to a story in Tech Cocktail about the launch, Personal's “web extension and mobile app are able to support over 1,200 different types of reusable data, even enabling them to unlock more confidential information so they can complete longer forms, including patient registrations, job applications, event registrations, school admissions, insurance and bank applications, and government forms.”[41] In November 2014, a mobile version of Fill It was launched that could autofill mobile forms using APIs.[42]

Personal's form portal ultimately indexed more than 500,000 forms with three components, which, together, allowed data to be captured and reused across any of the forms: (1) a form graph, which mapped individual form fields to the Personal ontology; (2) a semantic layer, which determined how data was required on a form (e.g. one field vs. three fields for a U.S. telephone number); and (3) a correlations graph, which helped individuals match their specific data to a form without looking at the data value (e.g. knowing which phone number is a mobile phone number, which address is a billing address, or that a person uses their middle name as a first name on most forms).[43]

Monetizing personal data

[edit]

With the initial public offering of Facebook in May 2012, there was media interest in the question of the monetary value of personal data and whether tools and services might emerge to help consumers monetize their own data. Personal was frequently cited as a company that could potentially offer such a service. Articles and pieces focusing on this subject have appeared in The New York Times, AdWeek, the MIT Technology Review, and on CNN and National Public Radio.[44][45][46] Company Co-founder and CEO Shane Green was quoted as saying that “the average American consumer would soon be able to realize over $1,000 per year” by granting limited, anonymous access to their data to marketers, but that figure was never supported by Green or the company.[47]

Launch of TeamData

[edit]

In May 2016, Personal shifted its product focus to TeamData, which focuses on the problem of securing and collaboratively managing data in the workplace.[48][49] It is now a separate business.

References

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  1. ^ O'Hear, Steve. "Digi.me and Personal merge to put you in control of the nascent 'personal data ecosystem'". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  2. ^ "Digi.me and Personal merge to create single data control service". Tech.eu. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  3. ^ "Term Sheet -- Thursday, August 17". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  4. ^ Medici, Andy (August 17, 2017). "This District data privacy company has merged into digi.me". The Washington Business Journal.
  5. ^ PRNewswire (August 17, 2017). "Digi.me merges with Personal to Create Global Personal Data Control Powerhouse". www.prnewswire.com.
  6. ^ "NAVTEQ Announces Agreement to Acquire The Map Network". Directions Magazine. 6 December 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Personal.com". Privacy by Design. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Personal and Privacy by Design" (PDF). Privacy by Design. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Joshua P. Galper". Privacy by Design. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Shane Green". Privacy by Design. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  11. ^ L., G. (17 November 2011). "A life-management platform?". The Economist. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  12. ^ Stokes, Natasha (1 August 2014). "How to Take Control of Your Personal Data". Time Inc. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Personal raises $4.5 million to be the personal data vault we so desperately need". Reuters. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  14. ^ Rao, Leena (6 January 2011). "Personal Raises $7M From Steve Case And Others To Help Consumers Protect Their Digital Data". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  15. ^ "Owner Data Agreement". Personal, Inc. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  16. ^ Searls, Doc (May 1, 2012). The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Harvard Business Review Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-1422158524.
  17. ^ Green, Shane (6 March 2012). "The Era of Small Data Begins". Personal. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  18. ^ Michael (9 November 2011). "Watch Jeremie Miller present Singly at the Web 2.0 Summitt". Silicon Prairie News. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  19. ^ "Members of the PDEC Startup Circle". Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  20. ^ "Small Data NYC". Archived from the original on 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  21. ^ "Personal Data Stores". Ctrl-Shift. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  22. ^ Khatibloo, Fatemeh; Frankland, Dave; Maler, Eve; Smith, Allison (30 September 2011). "Personal Identity Management" (PDF). Forrester. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  23. ^ Fonseca, Natalie. "Personal and Passtouch Receive Innovator Spotlight Award at Privacy Identity Innovation Conference (pii2011)". PRWeb. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  24. ^ "pii2012 Technology Showcase". Privacy Identity Innovation. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  25. ^ Sullivan, Mark (13 March 2012). "Hot Apps and Web Services of SXSW". Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  26. ^ Raths, David; Namahoe, Kanoe; Lloyd, Meg (23 July 2013). "2013 Innovators Awards". Campus Technology. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  27. ^ Null, Christopher, ET's Favorite Travel Apps of 2013, archived from the original on 2013-10-23, retrieved 20 August 2014
  28. ^ "Personal, Inc". Open Data 500. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  29. ^ Mack, Ann (26 December 2013). "100 Things to Watch in 2014". JWT Intelligence. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  30. ^ "Cybersecurity_Trailblazers". pdfserver.amlaw.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  31. ^ King, Rachel. "Intel execs on big data and privacy: It's a balancing act". ZDNet. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  32. ^ Cavoukian, Ann; Green, Shane (October 2012). "Privacy by Design and the Emerging Personal Data Ecosystem" (PDF). Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  33. ^ Boyd, E.B. (7 May 2012). "PERSONAL.COM CREATES AN ONLINE VAULT TO MANAGE ALL YOUR DATA". Fast Company. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  34. ^ a b Parr, Ben (17 November 2011). "Never Fill Out a Form Again? Personal Seeks to Be the Data Vault for Your Private Information". Mashable. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  35. ^ "Personal Releases Android App for Its Private, Personal Network and Data Vault Service". Personal, Inc. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  36. ^ Rao, Leena (7 May 2012). "Personal Takes Its Secure Vault For All Of Your Private, Digital Data Mobile With iOS App". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  37. ^ "Personal Launches 'Personal Platform at Business of APIs Conference, Opening APIs for Developers". Personal, Inc. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  38. ^ Needleman, Rafe (30 November 2011). "What hump? Personal's private database faces challenges". CNET. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  39. ^ "Unlocking the Value of Personal Data: From Collection to Usage" (PDF). World Economic Forum. February 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  40. ^ Couts, Andrew (16 January 2013). "PERSONAL.COM'S NEW FILL IT APP MAKES QUICK WORK OF LONG ONLINE FORMS". Digital Trends. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  41. ^ a b Barba, Ronald (16 June 2014). "DC-Based Personal Launches Fill It for Quick and Safe Auto-Filling on Online Forms". Tech Cocktail. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  42. ^ "Personal Launches Fill It Mobile at #pii2014". 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  43. ^ Barba, Ronald (8 August 2014). "Personal Launches "Personal University," a Video Series on Data Privacy and Security". Tech Cocktail. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  44. ^ Brustein, Joshua (12 February 2012). "Start-Ups Seek to Help Users Put a Price on Their Personal Data". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  45. ^ Zax, David (30 November 2011). "Is Personal Data the New Currency?". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  46. ^ Gross, Doug (27 February 2012). "Manage (and make cash with?) your data online". CNN. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  47. ^ Palmer, Maija (18 February 2013). "Data mining offers rich seam". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  48. ^ TeamData. "Personal.com Becomes TeamData". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  49. ^ Green, Shane (2016-05-20). "Why Personal.com "graduated" to TeamData today". Retrieved 2016-10-03.
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