Data is valuable. The valuations of many international corporations are based on the data they curate and commercialise. People also have the right to access, use, and monetise their own personal data - but until recently haven't had the tools. This is changing in the Smart Data economy.
Exercising rights
In many supermarkets and high street stores, loyalty is extremely valuable - the cost of a shopping basket can be significantly higher without the loyalty scheme. The shop is effectively paying for the customer's personal data. The shopper has a right to privacy, but many cannot afford the "luxury" of exercising it.
Personal data is used to advertise products, personalise services, influence habits and voting decisions, and increasingly to defraud people. Aggregated data can draw inferences that lead to prejudice. A person's eligibility for goods and services can be affected.
Safeguarding data
The rules that safeguard data and enable meaningful privacy will be critical in the digital economy. They'll need good governance structures with sufficient agility, standards defining how data is processed and stored, and regular independent audits to provide assurance.
Orchestration will be critical
Orchestration services will be a critical function in the data economy - the platforms through which adherence to policies is enforced. Technologies will automate complex rules, and how services interact with people and their devices will be a key design feature.
Members of the Smart Data Forum have been considering these subjects for years, and the Data (Use and Access) Act defines the necessary Trust Framework governance structures.
Proof of value
We need "Proof of Value" projects that implement the rules through clear policies and test them in real-life contexts. As a certified Orchestration Service Provider under the Trust Framework, Orchestrating Identity has developed a sandbox environment for rapid prototyping of Smart Data policies.