Everything you do online and on your mobile phone is tracked and compiled by companies trying to figure “you” out. This Digital You includes what you like, read, and buy…even information about your kids, pets and friends. A multi-billion dollar marketplace has emerged to buy and sell this data and target you with advertising.
Personal, a new startup working to return control of personal data to you, has announced that it has closed $7.6 million in Series A round financing, co-led by Grotech Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution LLC with participation from media investment bank Allen & Company and Eric Semler of TCS Capital Management. Personal wants to help you create and manage personal digital information that you control. Personal will use its new funding to expand testing and introduce the service to consumers in early 2011.
#You will have a single place to privately store the information that you choose
#You can share the information privately with friends and family you trust, without worrying about it being shared with anyone else.
# Save time and money with content and offers that truly match your needs
Facebook has often been criticized for making certain features opt-out by default instead of opt-in, a philosophy that generally favors sharing publicly versus sharing privately. “People have been told they must accept online tracking as a tradeoff for keeping their favorite websites and mobile apps free, but they are surprised at how invasive this tracking has become and just how valuable their data is to these companies and advertisers,” said Shane Green, president and CEO of Personal.
