News. Companies once thought they’d make big money off big data. Now it is their biggest liability. In the future, successful data companies will not own any data. We are heading for a data crunch, as citizens are more conscious of their personal data. This is true not just from a government surveillance perspective, but also when it comes to corporate surveillance. So, trusting that an organization can handle personal data responsibly will be an important currency.
In the world of data aggregation, there are businesses making billions of dollars from harvesting personal data and re-selling it without the knowledge or consent of the data owner. They face risks of hacking, negative consumer sentiment and new regulation. The next wave of innovation is not better ad-tech, data aggregation and promises of greater transparency. It’s a fundamental re-think of the value exchange and data ownership. Instead of aggregating data at an organizational level, data will be integrated around the individual (in Personal Data Stores) People will just authorize permission-based access to businesses when the need arises. A new wave of Uber-style data companies will emerge. These companies will have no interest in owning masses of personal data. They will just manage the flows of data between those that have data and those that need it.
