A personal data service (PDS) gives the user a central point of control for their personal information (e.g. interests, contact information, affiliations, preferences, friends). The user's data attributes being managed by the service may be stored in a co-located repository, or they may be stored in multiple external distributed repositories, or a combination of both. Attributes from a PDS may be accessed via an API. Users of the same PDS instance may be allowed to selectively share sets of attributes with other users. A data ecosystem is developing where such sharing among projects or "operators" may become practicable.[1]
The concept of a PDS can be differentiated from another closely related term, personal data store. "A personal data store is a physical repository for data over which an individual exerts access control. Again, the term itself does not imply where such a store lives on the network (i.e., in the cloud, on a local device, in a smart card, on a SIM, etc.)".[2] The word "store" implies that a personal data store actually stores personal data,[3] whereas the emphasis of a PDS is on providing a single point of control.[4] In summary, a 'personal data store' always stores data whereas, whereas a personal data service may or may not.
Open Source
Cloud
- Atsign - "P2P personal data management and sharing platform"
- HIEofOne - "Managing personal health information shouldn’t be so hard."
- iGrant.io - "Infrastructure for data exchange and verification services with digital wallets"
- Self Research Institute - "[T]he first full stack solution for human centric technology."
Non-open source
- CitizenMe - "The data platform for humanity"
- DataPal - "DataPal is Personal Data Management Service; it works for you. It’s like a very smart digital filing cabinet. DataPal enables you to CONTROL your personal information and SHARE it with connections that you trust to use it responsibly."
- Dataswyft - "Privacy is a right. Ownership is a privilege."
- DigiMe - "Private Sharing. Safely empowering you with your digital life for better value and services"
- Meeco - ""The infrastructure for trusted personal data ecosystems"
- Mydex - empowers individuals to manage their lives through convenient, trustworthy access and control of their personal data and how it is used by them and others. This is achieved through interoperable API-based components for identity, consent and personal data management.
- NordXDataspace Foundation, a trust anchor service for use with PDS providers
Open Source Projects
Cloud
- (HAT) Hub-of-All-Things
- Own Your Info - "Your Personal Data Vault"
- Personium.io - "An interconnectable open source PDS (Personal Data Store) server envisioning world wide web of protected data APIs."
- Prifina.com - "[A] personal data platform where the data is owned by individuals themselves. Anyone can build services for people to live happier and healthier lives."
- SOLID Project - "Solid: Your data, your choice. Advancing Web standards to empower individuals and groups."
- Decentralized Web Node - "A Decentralized Web Node (DWN) is a data storage and message relay mechanism entities can use to locate public or private permissioned data related to a given Decentralized Identifier (DID).)"
Cloud or on-device
- BYODA - Bring Your Own Data and Algorithms: a data store supporting social media services, such as BYO.Tube.
On-Device only
- Prifina - a personal data engine that allows individuals get value from their data and empowers developers to build applications on top of user-held data.
Inactive
- data.fm - an open source, PDS with a centralized underlying attribute store as well as an API to enable bi-directional attribute updates from external websites and services. The APIs are based on standards and include WebDav, SPARQL and linked data. Data formats exchanged include RDF, XML and JSON.
- Dogsheep Project - Build your own Personal Data Warehouse. Dogsheep is a collection of tools (open-source) for personal analytics using SQLite and Datasette (Python).[5]
- Higgins - Higgins is an open source project dedicated to giving individuals more control over their personal identity, profile and social network data. Includes a personal datastore.
- ID Hole - a dynamic and commercial consumer PDS that allows for the storing of personal data and the dynamic sharing of that data with other parties.
- The Locker Project - an open source, JavaScript-based, PDS with a centralized underlying attribute store that exists on a person's personal computer as well as an API to support local applications.
- openPDS/SafeAnswers - openPDS/SafeAnswers allows users to collect, store, and give fine-grained access to their data all while protecting their privacy.
- OwnYourInfo - a personal information storing and sharing application.[6]
Non-open source
Cloud
- Cozy Cloud - "A smart personal cloud to gather all your data"
- Inrupt - "Harness the web as a data platform for everyone"
On-device
- SNPLab - on-device MyData platform provider for combined personal data based on self-issued DID