LONDON: As consumers are being asked to hand over more and more personal data, platforms offering a centralised hub that allows users to control who is accessing, and how they are using, their personal data, are on the rise.

Digi.me, a small – though growing – personal data management system, which recently merged with data security company Personal, offers a solution to the problem posed by the EU’s GDPR regulation and soon-to-be UK law’s requirement for ‘privacy by design’.

The platform is designed to also adhere to the principle in both laws of informed consent. Users will be able to keep their data on a device of their choosing, with companies using the Digi.me platform as a block on which to build their digital services. The company’s mantra: “Do more, privately.”

What sets it apart is the fact that the data never leaves a user’s device.

“Digi.me allows you to bring all your data together into your own secure library,” the company explains on its website. “You choose which sources to add to your Digi.me library – such as social networks, finance or health – and Digi.me requests the data from them.”  Crucially, the platform never “sees, touches or holds” a user’s data.   

For businesses, Digi.me says that the data from an informed, consenting consumer – who understands the value exchange – will be of far superior quality.

“Companies and developers can… use Digi.me’s APIs to request access to integrated data sets to provide better data-driven experiences, services, and rewards, and to provide other benefits like rich personal analytics,” the company said in a statement.

The merger is intended to give the company a foothold in the US, where customers have traditionally been more open to sharing than Europeans.

Of course, Digi.me is not alone in the personal data management space. In a recent interview with the FT, the CEO of Spanish multinational telco Telefonica, José María Álvarez-Pallete explained that he believed customers should be able to see how their data are used. What’s more, he added, the customer should be able to take it with them upon when they cease to use the company.

The right to do so will be put into law both at EU and UK level, affecting any company that processes any UK or EU data, wherever they may be. The fines for non-compliance in the event of a breach are large: 4% of global turnover or £17m.

The ambition and foresight of these companies, big and small, suggests not only a trend, but a necessity that businesses (and the marketers within them) must understand and adapt to.

Data sourced from TechCrunch, Cision, Digi.me, Financial Times, WARC; additional content by WARC staff