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Lumeria - Your Privacy Partner
Consolidating a person's diversified profile data exponentially amplifies the value of the information, but also its sensitive nature. Consumers are not likely to trust existing companies (who currently possess their personal data) because of their track record of abuse with only nominal amounts of information. The FTC has repeatedly suggested that consumer concern about privacy is the most serious obstacle to the potential growth of e-commerce.
Fortunately, Lumeria is creating some revolutionary technologies and an innovative new business model that will allow them to organize, access and share their own personal data for fun and profit. This model, the SuperProfile system, places personal data under the auspices of the individual and is so robust that it makes the Fair Information Principles as redundant as a friendly reminder to "be careful." Once an individual is empowered with the SuperProfile system, they will no longer be dependent upon the goodwill of the merchant to follow the Fair Information Principles. Nonetheless, these principles provide a foundation for evaluating the potency of the SuperProfile system.
1. Notice/Awareness
Lumeria's SuperProfile system is based upon the premise that the individual owns their personal data. This seemingly simplistic statement fundamentally alters the principle of notice and awareness. The Federal Trade Commission advocates that the user be notified of the company's non-binding privacy policy. Lumeria's solution, however, transfers notice and awareness from the company's announced procedures to the binding, contractual terms of the exchange. The company's privacy policy becomes irrelevant because the individual can negotiate the limitations on the use of the data. If, for example, the consumer is concerned about the usage of data beyond the immediate exchange, then they can specify that the purchase of the data includes only a single usage. Similar restrictions can be placed on any aspect of the acquisition, control, or use of the data and Lumeria's SuperProfile system provides the tools necessary to insure that the individual can enforce these terms.
Obviously, the terms of the exchange can continue to be constructed in such a way as to exploit a person's data. However, the SuperProfile system allows individuals to appoint agents (such as Lumeria or other third parties including banks) who will actively seek the best deals for the individual. The agent can provide software that highlights deficiencies of any transaction or warns the individual about a scrupulous deal. Moreover, the SuperProfile system allows the individual to sell or trade some data about themselves (e.g. their habits or preferences) while protecting their identity. If the individual suspects the veracity of the company, they can provide extremely limited or anonymous data to the company until a relationship has been established and the merchant is trusted.
2. Choice/Consent
Once Lumeria has given the individual control over the exchange of their personal data, secondary usage become part of the contract. If the individual trusts the party, they can provide secondary usage of the data (i.e. their name for personalized services in the future) but limit its transferability to any other entity. Also, since the provision of data becomes a contractual exchange, the assumption is that the individual has a choice about participating.
3. Access/Participation
Personal ownership of an individual's data dictates that the individual has access to their property. The data's inherent value also suggests that the individual will actively maintain the data's accuracy and seek additional information to add to their SuperProfile. Because the individual owns this data, they can individually determine whether to restrict, delete, or publish this data.
4. Integrity/Security
As mentioned above, integrity of the data is easier to maintain once the individual has incentive to maintain its accuracy. Using digital certificates, Lumeria's SuperProfile system provides the tools necessary for an individual to authenticate or audit specific data, thereby increasing its value (e.g. the consumer can provide audited or unaudited information). In addition, the SuperProfile system utilizes double-blind verification, reputations, strong encryption, and redundant backup to create a secure, trusted system.
5. Enforcement/Redress
The enforcement principle is Lumeria's strong card. Privacy is difficult to enforce today because there are few specifically designated privacy laws. The Constitution, for example, does not use the word privacy. Moreover, the privacy policy of a company is not a contract and is rarely binding. Lumeria's SuperProfile system, however, converts ephemeral personal data into an asset property. When either an individual or a company utilizes the SuperProfile system, the terms and conditions of participation become a legally binding contract. This contract is then enforceable by any court of law utilizing existing contractual law. (Although few countries have privacy laws, almost all countries have a robust contract law foundation.)
6. Addressing the EU's Concerns
Although the Europeans are considered to have some of the strongest privacy laws in the world (some EU countries can prosecute some breaches of privacy under criminal laws), the SuperProfile system would actually exceed EU guidelines in many areas. For example, the EU Directive does not allow for anonymous web surfing or e-commerce purchases. In addition, access to personal data is considerably easier when it's consolidated under the SuperProfile, rather than having to contact multiple companies to request the data. Most importantly, the EU Directive does not consider personal data to be the property of the individual. Consequently, the EU only protects personal data, but does not provide, like Lumeria's solutions, the numerous benefits from sharing your data with others (i.e. direct compensation, discounts, and additional services).
