????提供數據聚合服務的第三方竊取互聯網用戶個人信息，通過各種程序監視用戶以及將用戶網頁瀏覽數據出售給無良商家——網民們對這類不齒行徑已經耳熟能詳。但對于如何控制自己的個人信息以防泄露這個問題，網民們就知之甚少了，更不用提支配個人信息的訪問或使用授權了。

????不過現在情況不一樣了。幾家高科技初創企業正在為立足于個人數據控制產品這一新興市場領域展開角逐。根據世界經濟論壇（The World Economic Forum）的說法，個人數據是二十一世紀的一種資產類別；互聯網用戶應該從根本上把自己的個人數據當作“銀行存款”來看待。信息技術行業市場研究公司弗雷斯特研究公司（Forrester Research）預測，個人數據管理這一新興市場規模達幾十億美元，在接下來的18到24個月里更可獲得大幅增長。僅就美國市場而言，每年光是花費在第三方消費者數據收集上的資金就超過20億美元。Azigo、Mydex,、The DataBanker 和 Personal.com等公司爭相通過個人信息數據業務創收。

????這些個人數據收集公司到底是怎么運作的呢？大家可以想象一個基于云技術的“中心”，它既充當虛擬保險箱，同時又是個人數字助手。用戶能通過這個中心管理自己的在線生活，儲存所有的數字信息，包括：財務信息、醫療記錄、電影、音樂等等。智能化軟件控制個人信息讀取，確保用戶只向合法可信的網站提供必要的在線身份信息。《拉：語義網改變你的商業》（Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business）一書的作者戴夫?西格爾認為，這些在線保險箱將最終取代個人電腦、平板電腦、iPhone、微軟（Microsoft）的Windows操作系統、蘋果（Apple）的Macintosh操作系統以及谷歌（Google）的安卓（Android）操作系統。

????聽起來像是高科技初創企業的虛張聲勢？也許吧。但咨詢公司波士頓咨詢公司（Boston Consulting Group）的數據顯示，到2016年，全球互聯網用戶人數將達到30億，幾乎相當于全球總人口的一半。將這些用戶和他們的數字文檔乘以數十億計的信息記錄，大家可以體會這個概念有多大。不難看出風險資本現在對這一領域高度關注的原因。投資人斯蒂夫?凱斯就是其中一個。據美國證券交易委員會（Securities and Exchange Commission）監管備案文件顯示，凱斯的風險投資公司Revolution所投資的Personal.com于2011年1月融資730萬美元，今年3月又追加融資350萬美元。Personal.com的競爭對手Singly.com則融資700萬美元。

????問及籌集初始種子資金是否困難時，Mydex聯席創始人威廉?希思沒有正面回答，只說：“我們得到了需要的資金。”Mydex是總部設在英國的一家個人數據控制服務公司。而Azigo聯席創始人兼首席技術官保羅?特里維希克說：“如果你有足夠的用戶，不難發現可以利用個人數據存儲的各種商業模式。”總部設在馬薩諸塞州沃爾瑟姆的Azigo免費提供一種網站服務，能將用戶喜歡的品牌、廣告偏好、商品目錄和每日優惠訂閱數據等個人信息歸納到個人數據保險箱。Mydex的希思說：“我們正處在這個行業進程的開端，但是已經能清楚地看到即將掀起一場完美風暴的各種要素。”

????現在看來，關鍵問題是這種技術什么時候能夠成為主流。Connect.me公司的創始人德拉蒙德?里德說，一款“殺手級應用程序”將起到催化劑的作用。當出現需要用到個人數據保險箱和個人數據網絡服務時，就標志著這種數據保險箱已成為主流。里德的公司一直在開發其尊重信任網服務（The Respect Trust Network），從而建立起這一框架。它的運行模式是這樣的：用戶無需登錄一系列網站，也不需要使用一堆密碼打開瀏覽器標簽，相反，只要登錄一次就可以連接到 “個人頻道”——數據保險箱。通過數據保險箱，用戶可以直接進入個人購物、銀行或者是博客菜單，而且始終不會離開該服務站點。尊重信任網服務計劃在2013年末推出。

????曾為美國互聯網公司網景公司（Netscape）和安全軟件公司邁克菲公司（McAfee）元老的卡麥倫?劉易斯則另辟蹊徑。2011年，他將Statz.com做成一個依托于網站的客戶端，類似于金融服務公司嘉信公司（Schwab）和E-trade公司。在這個客戶端上，消費者創建理財賬戶以管理自己的數據組合，直接賣給商戶。劉易斯把這種模式描述成個人數據“同業公會”的行業先驅。它與惠普實驗室（HP Lab）的策略一致，在一份題為《根據個人的隱私態度支付個人數據費用》（Paying Individuals According to their Privacy Attitudes）的報告里有詳細的論述。后來，由于Statz.com無法獲得進一步融資，劉易斯于是創立了基于相似經營理念的The DataBanker公司。

????雖然依靠廣告創收的互聯網產值已超過美國GDP的2%，但是消費者應該有權選擇控制自己的個人信息并從中獲利的觀念還是太過激進。對數據保險箱這一理念持批評態度的人士迅速表達了不同意見。美國無線互聯網和移動計算咨詢公司（Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing）總裁艾倫?賴特在高管社交網絡平臺CMO Site上撰寫的一篇博文中明確表示：“坦白說，我覺得這類公司不大可能成功。消費者已經在Facebook之類的社交網站上無償提供了自己的數據，同時，不管是否明確表示了同意，已經在事實上默許了企業的數據采集。”

????Internet users have heard plenty about third-party aggregators filching their data, spying on them via all manner of cookies and selling Web surfing data to unscrupulous marketers. Much less has been said about what users can do to control their personal information, let alone have a say in who can snoop around, poke into or use it.

????Until now. A handful of tech startups are competing for a foothold in the emerging market for personal data control products. According to The World Economic Forum, personal data is the asset class of the twenty-first century; users should essentially view their data like "money in a bank." Forrester Research (FORR) projects that the nascent business of personal data management is worth billions and could grow substantially over the next 18 to 24 months. In the U.S. alone, over $2 billion is spent annually just collecting consumer data from third-parties. Companies such as Azigo, Mydex, The DataBanker and Personal.com are racing to cash in.

????How would these personal data lockers work exactly? Picture a cloud-based "hub" that's part virtual safe and part personal digital assistant. This hub allows users to manage their online lives and store all their digital stuff: financial information, medical records, movies, music, and so on. Clever software controls access, making sure appropriate elements of a user's online identity are available to the right, trusted Web sites. Dave Siegel, author of Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business, argues these cyber vaults will eventually replace PCs, tablets, iPhones, and Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows and Apple's (AAPL) Macintosh operating systems. Yes, Google (GOOG) Android, too.

????Sound like startup swagger? Perhaps. But by 2016, there will be 3 billion Internet users globally -- almost half the world's population -- according to the Boston Consulting Group. Multiply these users and their digital dossiers over billions of records to grasp the magnitude of the idea. It's not hard to see why venture capital is paying attention. Steve Case is, for one. His company Revolution invested in Personal.com, which raised $7.3 million in January 2011 and added another $3.5 million to its coffers this March, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Sing.ly, a competitor, put together $7 million.

????Asked if it was difficult to raise the initial seed capital, cofounder William Heath of U.K.-based Mydex, deflects a bit: "We've got what we need," he says. "It isn't too hard to see that if you have enough users, there are various business models that could leverage [personal data stores]," says Paul Trevithick, cofounder and chief technology officer of Waltham, Mass.-based Azigo, a free web service that links all one's favored brands, ad preferences, catalogs and daily deal subscriptions into a personal vault. "We're right at the beginning of this process," says Mydex's Heath, "but can clearly see all the ingredients for a perfect storm."

????The crucial question appears to now be when such technologies are likely to break into the mainstream. Drummond Reed, founder of Connect.me, says a "killer app" will be the catalyst. The first service that requires a personal data locker and a personal data network to work will signal that lockers have become prime-time players. His firm is working on The Respect Trust Network to put this framework in place. It works like this: Instead of signing on to a bunch of sites and juggling dozens of passwords and open browser tabs, you'll sign-on once and connect to your "personal channel" -- the locker. From there, you can access your menu of shopping, banking or blogs, without ever leaving the network. It's scheduled to launch in late 2013.

????Netscape and McAfee veteran Cameron Lewis takes a different approach. In 2011 he positioned Statz.com as a web-based client where consumers create a broker account -- similar to Schwab (SCHW) or E-Trade (ETFC) -- and manage a portfolio of their data to sell directly to marketers. Lewis describes this model as a first-of-its kind "board of trade," closely aligned with HP Labs' (HPQ) strategy, detailed in a report titled "Paying Individuals According to their Privacy Attitudes." When Statz.com couldn't find more funding, Lewis started The DataBanker, an outfit based on a similar idea.

????Although the advertising-supported Internet comprises over 2% of U.S. gross domestic product, the very idea that consumers should have the option to profit from or control their personal data is fairly radical. And critics of data lockers have been swift to dismiss the idea. Alan Reiter, president of Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing, a consulting firm, was explicit: "Frankly, I can't see many or any of these companies succeeding," he wrote in a CMO Site blog post, noting that consumers already freely give away their data on Facebook (FB), social networking sites, and agree, with or without consent, to data capture.