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Knowledge · Glossary

The language of personal data

154 names for one idea: that people can hold, control and use their own data. From the right to privacy (1890) to terms first used in 2026, each with the sources that used it.

The personal data ecosystemSuggest a missing term

The terms begin with Appendix A of Dr. Becker’s doctoral research (Becker, 2024), with sources added since. Each year marks an early use found in the sources, not proof of who coined the term.

Definitions are written from the cited sources, in plain English, and are reviewed as the field moves. Missing a term, or spotted something to correct? Suggest it, with a source if you have one.

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  1. 1890Privacy and rights

    Right to privacy

    A legal principle, set out by Warren and Brandeis in 1890, that people have a right to protect their private lives and personal information from public exposure.

    Sources: Warren and Brandeis (1890)

    References (1)

  2. 1928Privacy and rights

    Right to be let alone

    Justice Brandeis's phrase, in his 1928 Olmstead dissent, for the right to be free from government intrusion, including surveillance of private communications.

    Sources: Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928)

  3. 1945Personal informatics and lifelogging

    MEMEX Machine

    Vannevar Bush's imagined desk-sized device for storing, linking and recalling a person's books, records and communications, an early vision of personal information management.

    Sources: Bush (1945, 1959/1991, 1967/1991)

    References (1)

  4. 1964Privacy and rights

    Privacy

    The ability of individuals to choose who, what, when, where, for what purpose and for how long others have access to them and their information.

    Sources: Westin (1967)

    References (1)
    • Westin, A. F. (1967). Privacy and freedom. Atheneum. In References

  5. 1973Data intermediaries and governance

    Ombudsman

    An independent official who takes up individuals' complaints about how organizations collect and use records about them, as discussed in the 1973 US HEW records report.

    Sources: Ware (1973)

    References (1)
    • Ware, W. (1973, June 30). Records, computers and the rights of citizens [Transmittal Letter to In References

  6. 1984Data value and markets

    Information almost wants to be free, but it also wants to be expensive

    Stewart Brand's 1984 observation that information is cheap to copy and share, yet the right information is highly valuable, so the two pressures pull against each other.

    Sources: Brand (1984), Getty Images (1984), Gans (2015)

    References (2)

  7. 1985Standards and protocols

    Zero-Knowledge Proof

    A way to prove that a statement is true, such as "I am over 18", without revealing anything else, such as your birthdate. Introduced by Goldwasser, Micali and Rackoff in 1985; today behind selective disclosure in verifiable credentials.

    Sources: Goldwasser et al. (1985)

    Related: Distrust and Verify, Trust, but Verify, Verified Credentials, Self-Sovereign Identity

    References (1)
    • Goldwasser, S., Micali, S., & Rackoff, C. (1985). The knowledge complexity of interactive proof-systems. In Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (pp. 291–304). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/22145.22178 In References

  8. 1987Identity

    Trust, but Verify

    An old Russian proverb (doveryai, no proveryai): extend trust, then check it. Its origin is unknown; the idea is written down by Lenin in 1914 ("Put no faith in words; subject everything to the closest scrutiny"). Ronald Reagan, taught it by the historian Suzanne Massie, popularized it in English during nuclear arms talks, quoting it to Mikhail Gorbachev at the signing of the INF Treaty in 1987.

    Sources: Lenin (1914/1972); Reagan (1987); Massie (2013)

    Related: Distrust and Verify, Zero Trust, Zero-Knowledge Proof, Verified Credentials

    References (3)

  9. 1991Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) tools

    Computing built into everyday objects and surroundings, including sensors and devices that collect personal data people can use to reflect on their own behaviour.

    Sources: Weiser (1991), Li et al. (2011)

    References (2)

  10. 1997Data intermediaries and governance

    Infomediaries

    Intermediaries that hold consumers' personal information and act as their agents, negotiating with companies over how that information is used and what consumers receive for it.

    Sources: Hagel & Rayport (1997), Hagel & Singer (1999)

    References (2)

  11. 1997Data value and markets

    National Information Exchange Marketplace

    Laudon's proposed market where individuals hold rights to their personal information in accounts and can sell or license its use to organizations through regulated intermediaries.

    Sources: Laudon (1997)

    References (1)

  12. 1999Identity

    DigitalMe

    Novell's 1999 online identity service that let people store personal details in profiles and choose which details to share with websites and contacts.

    Sources: Novell (1999)

    References (1)

  13. 1999Identity

    meBusiness

    Novell's 1999 term for businesses building relationships through customer-controlled identity profiles, such as those held in its digitalme service, rather than company-held records.

    Sources: Novell (1999)

    References (1)

  14. 1999Personal data stores

    Personal Data Store

    A tool or service where a person gathers, stores and manages their own personal data and decides which organizations may access or use it.

    Sources: Alessi (2019), Crabtree et al. (2016, 2018), Dataswyft (2022), Eclipse Foundation (2008), Fallatah et al. (2023), Montjoye et al. (2014), Mun et al. (2010), Mydex Community Interest Company (2010), Owano (2013), Reed (2010a), Royal Society (2019), Trevithick (2010a), Vescovi et al. (2014), World Economic Forum (2013)

    References (13)

  15. 2000Data intermediaries and governance

    Data governance

    The policies, roles and processes an organization uses to manage data as an asset, including its quality, security, use and accountability.

    Sources: Ladley (2019)

    References (1)
    • Ladley, J. (2019). Data governance: How to design, deploy, and sustain an effective data governance program (2nd ed.). Academic Press. In References

  16. 2000Standards and protocols

    Semantic Web

    A vision for the web in which data carries machine-readable meaning, so software can find, combine and reason over information across sites.

    Sources: Berners-Lee et al. (2000)

    References (1)

  17. 2001Data intermediaries and governance

    Right Side Up

    Alan Mitchell's argument that marketing should be reorganized around consumers, who act through their own agents and information rather than being targeted by companies.

    Sources: Mitchell (2001)

    References (1)
    • Mitchell, A. (2001). Right Side Up: Building brands in the age of the organized consumer. HarperCollins. In References

  18. 2002Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Vault

    Linstedt's data-warehouse modelling method for storing historical organizational data; the name differs from personal data vaults, which hold an individual's own data.

    Sources: Linstedt (2002)

    References (1)

  19. 2003Identity

    Augmented Social Network

    A 2003 proposal to build persistent online identity and trust into the internet so people could find and connect with others while controlling their own profiles.

    Sources: Jordan et al. (2003)

    References (1)

  20. 2003Data intermediaries and governance

    Customer Managed Interactions

    An approach in which customers use their own data and software to start and control their dealings with firms, rather than firms managing the relationship.

    Sources: Watson (2003, 2004), Watson et al. (2005), Parasuraman (2006)

    References (4)

  21. 2003Personal data stores

    Personal Data Lockbox

    A descriptive name for a secure store of personal data that the individual controls, deciding who may add to it, see it or use it.

    Sources: Hayes-Roth (2004), Yeung & Sandström (2004); related: Siegel (2010), Mun et al. (2010), Mydex CIC (2010); later use: Becker (2024)

    References (6)

  22. 2003Privacy and rights

    Privacy Preserving Reputation Management

    Reputation systems that let participants rate and trust one another without revealing their identities or the personal details behind their ratings.

    Sources: Kinateder & Pearson (2003), Ma et al. (2019)

    References (2)
    • Kinateder, M., & Pearson, S. (2003). A privacy-enhanced peer-to-peer reputation system. In K. In References
    • Ma, L., Liu, X., Pei, Q., & Xiang, Y. (2019). Privacy-preserving reputation management for edge computing enhanced mobile crowdsensing. IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, 12(5), 786–799. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSC.2018.2825986 In References

  23. 2003Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Stuff I've seen

    A Microsoft Research system that indexed the email, files and web pages a person had already seen so they could easily find and reuse them.

    Sources: Dumais et al. (2003)

    References (1)
    • Dumais, S., Cutrell, E., Cadiz, J., Jancke, G., Sarin, R., & Robbins, D. C. (2003). Stuff I’ve seen: A system for personal information retrieval and re-use. Proceedings of the 26th Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1145/860435.860451 In References

  24. 2004Personal data stores

    Personal Cloud

    A personal data management system, hosted online or on a home device, where an individual keeps their data and runs services over it under their control.

    Sources: Anciaux et al. (2019)

    References (1)
    • Anciaux, N., Bonnet, P., Bouganim, L., Nguyen, B., Pucheral, P., Sandu Popa, I., & Scerri, G. (2019). Personal data management systems: The security and functionality standpoint. Information Systems, 80, 13–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2018.09.002 In References

  25. 2005Personal informatics and lifelogging

    OntoPIM

    A research approach to personal information management that uses a personal ontology, a model of a person's concepts, to organize and retrieve their information.

    Sources: Katifori et al. (2005)

    References (1)
    • Katifori, V., Poggi, A., Scannapieco, M., Catarci, T., & Ioannidis, Y. (2005). OntoPIM: How to rely on a personal ontology for personal information management. Proceedings of the 2005 international conference on semantic desktop workshop: Next generation information management D collaboration infrastructure, 175, 258–262. https://ceur- ws.org/Vol-175/25_poggi_ontopim_poster.pdf In References

  26. 2005Personal data stores

    Personal Knowledge Bank

    Mitchell and Henderson's idea of a store of personal information that individuals hold and use to manage their own dealings with organizations.

    Sources: Mitchell & Henderson (2005)

    References (1)

  27. 2005Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Semex System

    A research platform that integrated a person's email, documents and contacts into linked objects and associations so they could browse and search them together.

    Sources: Dong & Halevy (2005)

    References (1)

  28. 2005Identity

    The Laws of Identity

    Kim Cameron's seven principles for digital identity systems, including user control and consent, minimal disclosure, and justifiable parties.

    Sources: Cameron (2005)

    References (1)

  29. 2006Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Commons

    Data or knowledge treated as a shared resource, governed by a community under agreed rules rather than owned privately or by the state.

    Sources: Hess & Ostrom (2006), Rosnay & Stalder (2020)

    References (1)

  30. 2006Personal informatics and lifelogging

    iMeMex

    A research platform for personal dataspace management that brought together a person's files, email and other data sources under one queryable view.

    Sources: Dittrich (2006)

    References (1)

  31. 2006Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Lifebits

    MyLifeBits, a Microsoft Research project that digitally recorded and stored the documents, media and communications of Gordon Bell's life in one personal database.

    Sources: Gemmell et al. (2006)

    References (1)

  32. 2006Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Personal Database

    A single database that holds all of a person's digital records, such as documents, photos, messages and media, for storage, search and recall.

    Sources: Gemmell et al. (2006)

    References (1)

  33. 2006Data intermediaries and governance

    Vendor Relationship Management Tool

    Software that helps individuals manage their relationships with vendors on their own terms; the counterpart to companies' customer relationship management.

    Sources: Vizard & Searls (2006), Mitchell et al. (2008)

    References (2)

  34. 2006Standards and protocols

    Web 3.0

    In Markoff's 2006 usage, a next stage of the web in which software understands the meaning of online information, closely tied to the semantic web.

    Sources: Markoff (2006)

    References (1)

  35. 2007Personal data stores

    Healthvault

    Microsoft HealthVault, a personal health record platform launched in 2007 where people could store their health information and share it with providers and apps.

    Sources: Kelly (2007b)

    References (1)

  36. 2007Identity

    Information Cards

    Visual digital identity cards, used in Microsoft's CardSpace identity selector, that let people choose which identity and claims to present to a website.

    Sources: Cameron (2007)

    References (1)

  37. 2007Standards and protocols

    Linked Data

    Tim Berners-Lee's set of practices for publishing structured data on the web with URIs and standard formats, so data from different sources can be connected.

    Sources: Berners-Lee (2009)

    References (1)

  38. 2007Standards and protocols

    Open Data

    Data published so anyone can freely access, reuse and share it, such as the structured Wikipedia data in DBpedia.

    Sources: Auer et al. (2007)

    References (1)
    • Auer, S., Bizer, C., Kobilarov, G., Lehmann, J., Cyganiak, R., Ives, Z. (2007). DBpedia: A nucleus for a web of open data. In: Aberer, K., et al. The Semantic Web. ISWC ASWC 2007 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4825. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-76298-0_52 In References

  39. 2007Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Quantified Self

    A movement of people who track data about their own bodies, habits and activities to gain self-knowledge.

    Sources: Kelly (2007a), Wolf (2010)

    References (2)

  40. 2008Personal data stores

    Distributed personal web-service

    Personal data scattered across many web services; Geambasu et al. built a system to organize and share it across those services from one place.

    Sources: Geambasu et al. (2008)

    References (1)
    • Geambasu, R., Cheung, C., Moshchuk, A., Gribble, S. D., & Levy, H. M. (2008). Organizing and sharing distributed personal web-service data. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on World Wide Web, 755–764. https://doi.org/10.1145/1367497.1367599 In References

  41. 2008Personal data stores

    Polis

    A research prototype personal data management system in which individuals keep their own personal data and control what is disclosed to service providers.

    Sources: Efraimidis et al. (2008)

    References (1)

  42. 2008Privacy and rights

    Privacy by Design

    Ann Cavoukian's approach of building privacy into systems and practices from the start, using seven principles such as privacy as the default setting.

    Sources: Cavoukian (2008, 2009)

    References (2)

  43. 2009Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Lifelogging

    Continuously recording details of one's own life, such as images, location and activity, in digital form for later memory, reflection or use.

    Sources: O’Hara et al, (2009), Gurrin et. al., (2014)

    References (2)

  44. 2009Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Personal Data Stream

    The continuous flow of data, such as location and activity, collected about a person by mobile sensing, designed so the person can take part in decisions about sharing.

    Sources: Shilton et al., (2009)

    References (1)

  45. 2009Data value and markets

    The new oil

    A metaphor, used by EU Commissioner Kuneva in 2009 and later The Economist, describing personal data as a valuable resource that fuels the digital economy.

    Sources: Kuneva (2009), The Economist (2017b)

    References (2)

  46. 2009Personal data stores

    Virtual Individual Server

    A virtual machine in the cloud, dedicated to one person, that holds data from their mobile devices and shares it with others as a privacy-preserving proxy.

    Sources: Cáceres et al. (2009)

    References (1)
    • Cáceres, R., Cox, L., Lim, H., Shakimov, A., & Varshavsky, A. (2009). Virtual individual servers as privacy-preserving proxies for mobile devices. Proceedings of the 1st ACM In References

  47. 2010Data intermediaries and governance

    Customer Managed Profiling System

    An arrangement in which consumers create and manage their own profiles and decide what to share with sellers, as a way of protecting privacy in buying.

    Sources: Reppel & Szmigin (2010)

    References (1)

  48. 2010Personal data stores

    Personal Cloud Butler

    In the PrPl research project, a personal service that stores and indexes a person's data across devices and services and controls how it is shared.

    Sources: Seong et al. (2010)

    References (1)
    • Seong, S.-W., Seo, J., Nasielski, M., Sengupta, D., Hangal, S., Keat, S., Ruven, T., Ben, C., Monica, D., & Lam, S. (2010). PrPl: A decentralized social networking infrastructure: Social networks and beyond (MCS). MCS ’10: Proceedings of the 1st ACM Workshop on Mobile Cloud Computing & Services, 1–8, Article 8. https://doi.org/10.1145/1810931.1810939 In References

  49. 2010Personal data stores

    Personal Container

    A research concept for a store of a person's collected digital data, such as messages and sensor readings, kept and processed under that person's control.

    Sources: Mortier et al. (2010)

    References (1)

  50. 2010Data intermediaries and governance

    Personal Data Ecosystem

    The network of people, organizations, tools and rules through which individuals can manage and share their own personal data; the name of a 2010 industry consortium.

    Sources: Landsman et al. (2010)

    References (1)
    • Landsman, D., Young, K., Reed, D., & Hodder, M. (2010). Personal data ecosystem collaborative consortium: Catalyzing systems that work for all [Unpublished manuscript]. Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium. In References

  51. 2010Personal data stores

    Personal Data Server

    Server software or hosting that runs a person's personal data store and related services, holding their data and handling requests to access it.

    Sources: Reed (2010b)

    References (1)

  52. 2010Personal data stores

    Personal Data Service

    A service, often paired with a personal data store, that acts for a person to manage, share and exchange their personal data with others.

    Sources: Reed (2010a, 2010b), Trevithick (2010a)

    References (3)

  53. 2010Personal data stores

    Personal Data Vault

    A secure store under a person's control that holds their personal data, such as sensor or location data, and lets them choose what to share and with whom.

    Sources: Hoefmans et al. (2022), Mun et al. (2010), Mun et al. (2014)

    References (3)
    • Hoefmans, M.-J., Hansen-Staszyński, O., & Hageman, B. (2022). The what & the how of personal data management [Position paper]. Schluss. https://schluss.org/wp- content/uploads/2022/12/What-does-it-mean-users-in-full-control-over-their-data- CONCEPT.pdf In References
    • Mun, M., Hao, S., Mishra, N., Shilton, K., Burke, J., Estrin, D., Hansen, M., & Govindan, R. (2010). Personal data vaults: A locus of control for personal data streams. Co-NEXT ’10: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference, 1–12, Article 17. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1921168.1921191 In References
    • Mun, M. Y., Kim, D. H., Shilton, K., Estrin, D., Hansen, M., & Govindan, R. (2014). PDVLoc: A personal data vault for controlled location data sharing. ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, 10(4), 1–29, Article 58. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2523820 In References

  54. 2010Privacy and rights

    Privacy-Preserving Technologies

    Technical methods, such as anonymisation, aggregation and answering queries without releasing raw data, that let personal data be used while limiting exposure of the individual.

    Sources: Moiso et al. (2012), Montjoye et al. (2014), Mun et al. (2010), Perentis et al. (2017)

    References (4)

  55. 2010Standards and protocols

    Zero Trust

    A security model, set out by Forrester analyst John Kindervag, that trusts no user, device or network by default and checks every access request.

    Sources: Kindervag (2010)

    Related: Distrust and Verify, Trust, but Verify, Zero-Knowledge Proof

    References (1)

  56. 2011Standards and protocols

    Federated Social Web

    A social web made of many independently run servers that exchange posts and profiles over shared protocols, so people are not locked into one platform.

    Sources: Project Nori (2011)

    References (1)

  57. 2011Data intermediaries and governance

    midata

    A UK government programme launched in 2011 that encouraged companies to give consumers their own transaction and usage data back in a portable, electronic form.

    Sources: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills & Davey (2011)

    References (1)

  58. 2011Personal data stores

    Personal Applications

    Software that runs on a person's own data store and works on their behalf, as described in Project Danube's vision for personal data and identity.

    Sources: Project Danube (2011)

    References (1)

  59. 2011Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Personal Data Analytics

    Analysis of personal data done by or for the individual, so they can learn from it and decide how it is used.

    Sources: Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium (n.d.)

    References (1)

  60. 2011Personal data stores

    Personal Data Bank

    A service, like a bank for money, that holds an individual's personal data for them and releases it to others only on their instruction.

    Sources: Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium (n.d.)

    References (1)

  61. 2011Personal data stores

    Personal Data Locker

    A secure online store where a person keeps their personal data and documents and chooses which parties may access them.

    Sources: Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium (n.d.)

    References (1)

  62. 2011Data value and markets

    Personal Data: A New Asset Class

    A 2011 World Economic Forum report that described personal data as a new economic asset and called for an ecosystem that is balanced, trusted and centred on the user.

    Sources: World Economic Forum (2011)

    References (1)

  63. 2011Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Personal informatics

    Systems that help people collect, reflect on and act on information about themselves, such as activity, health or spending, to gain self-knowledge.

    Sources: Li et al. (2021)

  64. 2012Data value and markets

    Intention Economy

    Doc Searls's idea of a market in which customers state what they want and on what terms, and vendors respond, rather than vendors tracking customers.

    Sources: Searls (2012)

    References (1)
    • Searls, D. (2012). The intention economy: When customers take charge. Harvard Business Review Press. In References

  65. 2012Personal data stores

    Life management platform

    KuppingerCole's term for a platform where individuals securely store their personal data and share it under their own control with organisations they choose.

    Sources: Kuppinger (2012), Burton (2013)

    References (2)

  66. 2012Identity

    Self-Sovereign Identity

    An approach to digital identity in which the individual holds and controls their own identifiers and credentials and does not depend on any single issuer or platform.

    Sources: Loffreto (2012, 2016)

    References (2)

  67. 2012Data value and markets

    Unbiased Private Data

    Aperjis and Huberman's proposed market that pays individuals for their private data according to their privacy attitudes, so samples bought are not skewed.

    Sources: Aperjis & Huberman (2012)

    References (1)

  68. 2012Identity

    Verified Social Reputation

    A 2012 card from Connect.Me and miiCard that joined verified identity with social reputation so others could trust who a person online is.

    Sources: Marketwired (2012)

    References (1)

  69. 2013Data value and markets

    A Bite of Me

    A 2013 Kickstarter project in which Federico Zannier sold a month of his own browsing, location and screen data directly to backers.

    Sources: Zannier (2013)

    References (1)

  70. 2013Privacy and rights

    Digital afterlife

    What happens to a person's online accounts and data after they die, and the arrangements they make in advance to pass on or delete them.

    Sources: Tuerk (2013)

    References (1)

  71. 2013Identity

    Phygital

    Describes experiences and selves that blend physical and digital interactions, so a person's life and data span both worlds at once.

    Sources: Borgne (2018)

    References (1)

  72. 2013Privacy and rights

    Privacy Self-Management

    Daniel Solove's term for the legal approach of giving people notice and choice to manage their own privacy, which he argues often fails in practice.

    Sources: Solove (2013, 2021)

    References (2)

  73. 2013Personal data stores

    Trusted Compute Cells

    Secure, personal computing units proposed by Hardjono and colleagues that hold an individual's data and run approved code so others get answers, not raw data.

    Sources: Hardjono et al. (2014)

    References (1)
    • Hardjono, T., Deegan, P., & Clippinger, J. H. (2014). On the design of trustworthy compute frameworks for self-organizing digital institutions. In G. Meiselwitz (Ed.), Social Computing and Social Media (pp. 342–353). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 319-07632-4_33 In References

  74. 2014Data value and markets

    Customer Information Industry

    McKean's term for the businesses and practices that manage information customers volunteer about themselves, to deliver relevant experiences in return.

    Sources: McKean (2014)

    References (1)
    • McKean, J. S. (2014). Customer’s new voice: Extreme relevancy and experience through volunteered customer information. John Wiley & Sons. In References

  75. 2014Personal data stores

    Digital safety box

    PAOGA's name for its secure online vault where people store personal documents and data and share them with trusted parties.

    Sources: PAOGA (2014)

    References (1)

  76. 2014Personal data stores

    Hub-of-all-things

    The Hub-of-all-Things (HAT), a UK research project and platform giving individuals their own data store and a market for sharing data in context.

    Sources: Ng et al. (2014)

    References (1)
    • Ng, I. C. L., Scharf, K. A. & Maull, R. (2014, June 16–19). The market for contextual offerings: the multi-sided market platform of the hub-of-all-things (HAT) [Paper presentation]. 4th forum on markets and marketing, Karlstad University, Sweden. https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/70317/ In References

  77. 2014Data intermediaries and governance

    Me2B

    Price and Jaffe's term for relationships where the individual sets the terms with businesses, now also used for the person-to-business data relationship.

    Sources: Price & Jaffe (2014)

    References (1)
    • Price, B., & Jaffe, D. (2014). Your customer rules!: Delivering the Me2B experiences that today’s customers demand. Jossey-Bass. In References

  78. 2014Personal data stores

    My Data Store

    A Telecom Italia research tool that let people collect the personal data their mobile devices generate, see it, and control how it is shared.

    Sources: Moiso et al. (2012), Vescovi et al. (2014)

    References (2)

  79. 2014Standards and protocols

    Peer-To-Peer Cloud Storage Network

    Storj's 2014 design for cloud storage in which encrypted files are split across many independent computers instead of one company's data centres.

    Sources: Wilkinson (2014)

    References (1)

  80. 2014Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Personal Big Data

    The large, continuous record of a person's life captured by lifelogging devices and sensors, as described by Gurrin, Smeaton and Doherty.

    Sources: Gurrin et al. (2014)

    References (1)

  81. 2014Personal data stores

    Personal Data Cloud

    Cloud-based services that gather, store and manage an individual's personal data from many sources in one place under their account.

    Sources: Wang & Wang (2014)

    References (1)

  82. 2014Data intermediaries and governance

    Personal Information Management Service

    Ctrl-Shift's term for services that help individuals collect, manage and use their own personal data for their own purposes.

    Sources: Ctrl-Shift (2014)

    References (1)

  83. 2014Personal data stores

    SafeAnswers

    A method in MIT's openPDS where questions are run inside a person's data store and only the answer, not the raw data, is returned.

    Sources: Montjoye et. al (2014)

    References (1)

  84. 2014Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Self Data

    FING's concept of individuals producing, using and sharing their own personal data, under their control and for their own purposes.

    Sources: Foundation Internet Nouvelle Génération (2014, 2017)

  85. 2014Personal data stores

    Your AntiSocial Network

    A PAOGA slogan for its private vault service, which let people share data only with chosen, trusted parties rather than publicly.

    Sources: PAOGA (2014)

    References (1)

  86. 2015Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Collaborative

    A partnership in which organisations from different sectors, often private and public, exchange or pool data to solve public problems.

    Sources: Verhulst (2015)

    References (1)

  87. 2015Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Internet of Me

    The idea that connected devices and services increasingly form around the individual, producing and using data about that person's life.

    Sources: Spicer (2015)

    References (1)

  88. 2015Personal data stores

    Personal Information Management System

    Tools and services that let individuals store, manage and decide how their personal data is shared and used, as described by the European Data Protection Supervisor.

    Sources: Abiteboul et al. (2015), Buttarelli (2016a, 2016b), Attoresi & Moraes (2021)

    References (4)

  89. 2016Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Commons

    A shared platform that brings data, storage, computing and tools together so a research community can manage, analyse and share data.

    Sources: Grossman et al. (2016)

    References (1)

  90. 2016Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Stewards

    People or software responsible for managing an organisation's data quality, use and policies on behalf of its owners.

    Sources: Peyret (2016)

    References (1)

  91. 2016Personal data stores

    Databox

    A UK research platform giving individuals a personal device that collects their data and lets approved apps use it locally under their control.

    Sources: Crabtree et al. (2016), Haddadi et al. (2015)

    References (2)

  92. 2016Identity

    Decentralized Public Key Infrastructure

    A public key infrastructure in which no single certificate authority controls identifiers; people register and manage their own keys, for example on a blockchain.

    Sources: Allen et al. (2016)

    References (1)
    • Allen, C., Brock, A., Buterin, I., Callas, J., Dorje, D., Lundkvist, C., Kravchenko, P., Nelson, J., Reed, D., Sabadello, M., Slepak, G., Thorp, N., & T Wood, H. (2016). Decentralized public key infrastructure. GitHub. https://github.com/WebOfTrustInfo/rwot1- sf/blob/master/draft-documents/Decentralized-Public-Key-Infrastructure-CURRENT.md In References

  93. 2016Privacy and rights

    Do-it-yourself-data protection

    Individuals protecting their own data with tools and habits, which Matzner and colleagues ask may be a burden as much as empowerment.

    Sources: Matzner et al. (2016)

    References (1)
    • Matzner, T., Masur, P. K., Ochs, C., & von Pape, T. (2016). Do-it-yourself data protection — empowerment or burden? In S. Gutwirth, R. Leenes, & P. De Hert (Eds.), Data protection on the move |Current developments in ICT and privacy/data protection (pp. 277–305). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7376-8_11 In References

  94. 2016Data intermediaries and governance

    Information Fiduciaries

    Jack Balkin's idea that companies holding people's personal data should owe them duties of care and loyalty, like doctors or lawyers.

    Sources: Balkin (2016, 2024)

    References (1)

  95. 2016Data value and markets

    Personal Data Economy

    The market in which individuals exchange their personal data with organisations for value, and increasingly manage that exchange themselves.

    Sources: Juniper Research (2016)

    References (1)

  96. 2016Personal data stores

    Personal Online Database (POD)

    A personal online data store in the Solid project where a person keeps their data and grants apps permission to read or write it.

    Sources: Mansour et al. (2018)

  97. 2017Identity

    Identity Metasystem

    Microsoft's design for an interoperable layer joining many identity systems, so people can choose and use different digital identities consistently.

    Sources: Cameron & Jones (2017)

    References (1)

  98. 2017Personal data stores

    Personal health information management system (PHIMS)

    A system that lets individuals collect, store and manage their own health information and share it with providers or programmes they choose.

    Sources: Neyens & Childers (2017), Pawar et al. (2022)

    References (2)
    • Neyens, D. M., & Childers, A. K. (2017). Determining barriers and facilitators associated with willingness to use a personal health information management system to support worksite wellness programs. American Journal of Health Promotion, 31(4), 310–317. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.140514-QUAN-204 In References
    • Pawar, P., Parolia, N., Shinde, S., Edoh, T. O., & Singh, M. (2022). eHealthChain — a blockchain-based personal health information management system. Annals of Telecommunications, 77(1-2), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-021-00868-6 In References

  99. 2017Privacy and rights

    The Internet of Us

    Michael Lynch's book arguing that constant connection gives people more information but less understanding, raising questions about knowledge and autonomy.

    Sources: Lynch (2016)

    References (1)
    • Lynch, M. P. (2016). The internet of us: knowing more and understanding less in the age of big data. Liveright. In References

  100. 2017Standards and protocols

    Verified Claims

    Statements about a person, such as age or qualifications, that an issuer signs digitally so others can check them, per the W3C data model.

    Sources: Sporny & Longley (2017)

    References (1)

  101. 2018Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Trusts

    A legal structure in which independent trustees manage data on behalf of a group of people, deciding its use in their interest.

    Sources: Hardinges (2018), Mills (2019)

    References (2)

  102. 2018Data intermediaries and governance

    Information Bank

    A Japanese certified business that holds people's personal data under their instructions and shares it with third parties on their behalf, returning benefits to them.

    Sources: Hemmi (2019), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Japan (2022)

    References (2)

  103. 2018Data value and markets

    Mediators of Individual Data

    Organisations that would represent many people collectively, bargaining with companies over the terms and payment for using their members' personal data.

    Sources: Lanier & Weyl (2018)

    References (1)

  104. 2018Personal data stores

    Person-controlled personal data

    Personal data held in a store the individual owns and controls, such as a Hub-of-all-Things account, so they can use, exchange or trade it.

    Sources: Ng (2018)

    References (1)

  105. 2019Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Cooperative

    A member-owned organisation that pools members' personal data, governs it democratically, and decides together how it may be shared or used, for example for health research.

    Sources: Hafen (2019)

    References (1)
    • Hafen, E. (2019). Personal data cooperatives – A new data governance framework for data donations and precision health. In J. Krutzinna & L. Floridi (Eds.), The ethics of medical data donation (pp. 141–149). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04363-6_9 In References

  106. 2019Standards and protocols

    Decentralized Web Node

    A Decentralized Identity Foundation specification for a personal data store and message relay, addressed by a person's identifier, that apps can read from and write to with permission.

    Sources: Buchner (2019), Buchner et al. (2024),

    References (2)

  107. 2019Identity

    Digital Guardianship

    An arrangement in which a trusted guardian manages a digital identity and its credentials on behalf of a person who cannot fully manage them alone.

    Sources: Sovrin Guardianship Task Force (2023),

    References (1)

  108. 2019Data intermediaries and governance

    Personal Data Co-Operatives

    Co-operatives in which members deposit copies of their personal data, keep control over each use, and jointly decide on data donations for research and public benefit.

    Sources: Hafen (2019)

    References (1)
    • Hafen, E. (2019). Personal data cooperatives – A new data governance framework for data donations and precision health. In J. Krutzinna & L. Floridi (Eds.), The ethics of medical data donation (pp. 141–149). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04363-6_9 In References

  109. 2019Personal data stores

    Personal Vault

    A protected folder in Microsoft OneDrive, opened with extra identity verification, where people store their most sensitive files and documents.

    Sources: Microsoft (n.d.)

    References (1)

  110. 2019Standards and protocols

    Semantic Container

    An OwnYourData approach that packages data together with its description, provenance and usage policy so it can move between systems while keeping its terms.

    Sources: OwnYourData (2019)

    References (1)

  111. 2019Identity

    Verified Credentials

    Tamper-evident digital credentials, such as a licence or diploma, that a person holds and presents, and whose issuer and integrity anyone can check cryptographically (W3C Verifiable Credentials).

    Sources: Sporny & Longley (2019)

    Related: Distrust and Verify, Zero-Knowledge Proof

    References (1)

  112. 2020Identity

    Data ID Card

    One of the data management approaches tested in a UK survey: an identity card for managing one's personal data that includes the option to opt out of data-gathering services.

    Sources: Hartman et al. (2020)

    References (1)

  113. 2020Personal data stores

    Data Safe

    A personal data vault (Dutch: datakluis) where people keep their own data and choose which organisations, such as media companies, may use it.

    Sources: Loohuis (2020), Mediahuis (2022)

    References (2)

  114. 2020Identity

    Distrust and Verify

    A reversal of "trust, but verify": start from distrust, and believe only what can be checked. It was said publicly by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020. The same shift runs through technology: Zero Trust security ("never trust, always verify"), and tools such as zero-knowledge proofs and verifiable credentials that let anyone check a claim without trusting, or seeing more than they need of, the person making it. Society is moving from trust by default to verification by design. Also said as "distrust but verify".

    Sources: Pompeo (2020); related: Reagan (1987), Kindervag (2010), Goldwasser et al. (1985)

    Related: Trust, but Verify, Zero Trust, Zero-Knowledge Proof, Verified Credentials, Self-Sovereign Identity

    References (4)

  115. 2020Data intermediaries and governance

    Independent Data Stewardship

    An approach in which a responsible, independent party manages a person's data for them, either for all of it or for specific contexts such as health or finance.

    Sources: Hartman et al. (2020)

    References (1)

  116. 2020Data intermediaries and governance

    My Data Operator

    An organisation that, following MyData principles, provides services and infrastructure that let people see, manage and authorise flows of their personal data between organisations.

    Sources: Langford et al. (2020)

    References (1)
    • Langford, J., Poikola, A., Janssen, W., Lähteenoja, V., & Rikken, M. (2020). Understanding MyData operators. MyData Global. https://mydata.org/wp- content/uploads/sites/5/2020/04/Understanding-Mydata-Operators-pages.pdf In References

  117. 2020Data intermediaries and governance

    Personal Data Spaces

    A European Commission concept for environments where individuals hold and control their personal data and decide how it is shared within common European data spaces.

    Sources: European Commission (2020)

    References (1)

  118. 2020Data intermediaries and governance

    Smart Data

    A UK government programme that lets consumers instruct businesses to share their data securely with authorised third parties, extending the open banking model to other sectors.

    Sources: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2020)

    References (1)

  119. 2021Identity

    @Sign

    An @sign is a personal address on Atsign's atPlatform that a person owns and uses to control, encrypt and share their data directly with other people and devices.

    Sources: AtSign (2021)

    References (1)

  120. 2021Standards and protocols

    Authentic Data

    Data carrying cryptographic proof of its origin and integrity, so anyone receiving it can verify where it came from and that nobody has altered it.

    Sources: Huseby (2021)

    References (1)

  121. 2021Data value and markets

    Authentic Data Economy

    A proposed economy in which data with verifiable provenance is exchanged under its owners' control, rather than being collected and resold by intermediaries.

    Sources: Huseby (2021)

    References (1)

  122. 2021Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Custodian

    A type of data intermediary that holds and protects data for the people or organisations it belongs to and manages access to it on their behalf.

    Sources: Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (2021)

    References (1)

  123. 2021Data intermediaries and governance

    Data Exchange

    A type of data intermediary that provides a platform where data holders and data users find each other and share or trade data under agreed terms.

    Sources: Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (2021)

    References (1)

  124. 2021Identity

    Decentralized Identifier

    A W3C identifier that a person or organisation creates and controls themselves, and that others can verify cryptographically without relying on a central registry.

    Sources: Hamilton-Duffy et al. (2021)

    References (1)

  125. 2021Personal data stores

    Digital Personal Data Stores

    Apps or services where people collect, keep and manage their own personal data and decide which organisations may access it.

    Sources: Mariani et al. (2021)

    References (1)

  126. 2021Identity

    Digital Wallet

    An app that holds a person's identity credentials and cryptographic keys so they can receive, store and present verifiable proofs about themselves.

    Sources: Lemoie (2021)

    References (1)

  127. 2021AI and agents

    Identity Agent

    Software that acts for a person in managing their identity data, credentials and relationships, representing their interests when they deal with online services.

    Sources: Trevithick (2021)

  128. 2021Personal data stores

    Self-Sovereign Data Storage

    Nuggets' encrypted storage for personal data, built so that only the individual holds the keys and can unlock or share their data.

    Sources: Nuggets (n.d.)

    References (1)

  129. 2022AI and agents

    Agents

    Software that works with a person's digital wallet and acts on their behalf, for example exchanging credentials and messages with other parties' agents.

    Sources: Windley (2022)

    References (1)

  130. 2022Identity

    Data Passport

    Dataswyft's method for sharing verified credentials, such as health or test records, from a person's personal data account so others can check them.

    Sources: Dataswyft (2021)

    References (1)

  131. 2022Data intermediaries and governance

    Digital Fiduciary

    A data intermediary with legal duties of care and loyalty to the individuals it serves, which manages their data in their interest.

    Sources: Flanagan (2022)

    References (1)

  132. 2022Privacy and rights

    Digital Self-Determination

    The principle that people and communities should decide for themselves how data about them is collected, used and shared, and be able to act on those decisions.

    Sources: Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications & Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (2022), Verhulst (2023)

    References (1)

  133. 2022Privacy and rights

    Do-it-yourself data protection

    Steps individuals take themselves to protect their personal data, such as using privacy tools or changing settings, rather than relying on laws or companies.

    Sources: Piasecki et al. 2022

  134. 2022Standards and protocols

    Encrypted Data Vaults

    A Decentralized Identity Foundation specification for storing data encrypted on the client side, so the hosting provider cannot read what it holds.

    Sources: Sporny & Trider (2022)

    References (1)

  135. 2022Privacy and rights

    Get My Data

    A service, founded in 2020 and later suspended, with the tagline 'All of Your Data. One Request.', for getting back one's personal data from many companies at once.

    Sources: Get My Data (2022)

  136. 2022Data intermediaries and governance

    Non-Profit Data Intermediaries

    Data intermediaries, such as data trusts or co-operatives, that manage people's data for their members or the public good rather than for profit.

    Sources: Flanagan (2022)

    References (1)

  137. 2022Personal data stores

    Personal Data Account

    Dataswyft's term for a personal data store account that an individual owns and that apps can create for their users to hold and share data.

    Sources: Dataswyft (2022)

    References (1)

  138. 2022Data intermediaries and governance

    Private For-Profit Data Intermediaries

    Commercial companies that act as data intermediaries, managing or brokering people's data access and sharing as a business.

    Sources: Flanagan (2022)

    References (1)

  139. 2022Data intermediaries and governance

    Public Data Intermediaries

    Government or public bodies that act as data intermediaries, managing or overseeing how people's data is shared for public purposes.

    Sources: Flanagan (2022)

    References (1)

  140. 2023Data intermediaries and governance

    Digital Public Infrastructure

    Shared public digital systems, such as identity, payments and data-sharing platforms, that governments provide for society to build services on.

    Sources: Kuzev & Hall (2023), AtSign (2024)

    References (2)

  141. 2023Personal informatics and lifelogging

    Personal Data Warehouses

    Personal databases where individuals gather their own data exported from many online services, so they can explore and reuse it themselves.

    Sources: Willison (2020)

    References (1)

  142. 2023AI and agents

    Personal Digital Agent Protocol

    A protocol proposed at the IETF for software agents that people choose to act for them and to control how services access their data.

    Sources: Gropper (2023)

    References (1)

  143. 2023Data intermediaries and governance

    Trust Framework

    A set of rules and standards, such as the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework, that identity and data providers are certified against so others can trust them.

    Sources: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport & Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (2023)

    References (1)

  144. 2023Standards and protocols

    Web 5

    A platform proposed by TBD, part of Block, that combines identifiers, verifiable credentials and web nodes so people own their identity and data across apps.

    Sources: Jones (2023)

    References (1)

  145. 2024Personal data stores

    Empowerment Tech

    An umbrella term for tools that put individuals in control of their identity and data, such as digital wallets, personal data stores and personal AI agents.

    Sources: Smith (2024)

    References (2)

  146. 2024Personal data stores

    Personal Data eXchange

    Mydex's term for infrastructure that lets individuals exchange data between their personal data store and organisations under their own control.

    Sources: Mitchell (2024)

    References (1)

  147. 2024Personal data stores

    Personal Data Management Platform

    A platform for individuals to gather, organise and control the sharing of their personal data; it is cited only as a personal communication, so its exact scope is unconfirmed.

    Sources: N. Venezia, personal communication, 3 May 2024.

  148. 2024Data intermediaries and governance

    Profile Information Management System

    An NHS system where authorised health and care staff enter and update service information that is published on NHS.UK and shared with third parties; despite the acronym, it is not a personal PIMS.

    Sources: NHS (2024)

    References (1)

  149. 2026AI and agents

    Human Context Protocol (HCP)

    An open protocol, from the Loyal Agents collaboration of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and the Consumer Reports Innovation Lab, that connects AI assistants to the services holding a person's memory and preferences, defining how preferences are described, searched and updated, so they can move with the person from one AI to another.

    Sources: Shah, South, et al. (n.d.); Stanford Digital Economy Lab (2026, n.d.-a)

    Related: Portable Memory

    References (3)

  150. 2026AI and agents

    Portable Memory

    A user-governed layer of personal context (preferences, knowledge, experiences, credentials) that persists across AI interactions, moves between tools and can be shared selectively by role, consent and purpose, so it is not locked inside one AI platform.

    Sources: Stanford Digital Economy Lab (2026, n.d.-b)

    Related: Human Context Protocol (HCP)

    References (2)

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