It’s almost like there’s a news blackout in the U.S., but today (November 3, 2011) marks a huge development in personal data sharing, at least in the UK. As reported here, the British Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills formally launched a program called MiData. Its founding principle is that the personal data (and personally identifiable data) that utilities, banks, government agencies and others amass about individuals “should be released back” to them when requested in order to support more efficient e-commerce.

The UK government minister who is spearheading the effort tries to describe it in this video. As he mentions at the beginning, they make it sound quite “geeky,” but anyone who has tried to navigate the maze of false offers for a “free credit report” can readily understand how useful it might be for a credit reporting agency to make it a simple process to review the information that they hold about you and sell to others. Other examples include multiple power companies who are going to provide a way for customers to gain access to their historic use in a way that lets them do a bit of comparison shopping while deciding how to change their behaviors. Finally, they provide the example of Royal Bank of Scotland which, according to the BBC report, “is promising to give its customers ‘a complete walkthrough’ of all their annual transactions. So, for instance, you will be able to find out how much you spent at Tesco last year.”

In this government endorsed “partnership,” individuals (data sources), and multiple businesses engage in a form of “catch and release” (to use a fishing metaphor). The participating companies include competing utility companies: British Gas, EDF Energy, Scottish Power, Scottish Southern Energy, E.ON (a large, investor-owned gas and electric company based in Dusseldorf, Germany) and npower. The financial services companies include card issuers Visa and Mastercard, along with commercial banks, including Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Rounding out the roster of 26 are firms that already offer tools and services that help individuals and businesses take better control of the data that individuals are generating. On the enterprise side are Avoco Secure and CallCredit. On the side of the individual are personal data storage specialist Mydex and data protection service provider, Garlik. There are also comparison shopping services addressing telco services (Billmonitor.com) and diversified financial, telco and personal services – moneysupermarket.com.

Rounding out the roster is a group of businesses and trade organizations that have a vested interest in both identity management and personal information management. The list includes the UK Cards Association, Three (3G wireless carrier) and, last but certainly not least, Google. With Eric Schmidt declaring Google+ an effort to transform the Web search giant into an “Identity Service,” this should not surprise anyone.

In addition to service providers and trade organizations, the UK government has enlisted participation from a number of regulators and advocacy groups. These include: Citizens Advice, Communications Consumer Panel, Consumer Focus, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), OFCOM, Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Which? (a membership organization that strongly resembles Consumers Union in the U.S.).

Kudos to the UK government for kicking off this initiative and good luck to all participating companies. MiData gives us all the opportunity to assess the value that individuals (be they existing customers, prospects or individuals “in the wild”) attach to the tools and resources that give them control over “what, when and how” they exchange data (identity, preferences, needs, wants) and “indications of intent” to the world at large.

Categories: Articles

Tags: VRM, conversational commerce, Personal Data Ecosystem