#Forrester Report Predicts a "World of Consumer-Managed Data" - but miss lots of other scenarios

Forrester Research has finally caught up with some future thinking on “personal data management.” In their new report they care to forecast that shifts in the economy will allow consumers to gain control over all of the data available about them online. This will be achieved primarily though the use of “personal data lockers,” or individual repositories where individuals can store and access their data to share and sell with marketers. Currently, the data economy is balanced towards advertising. Often, consumers don’t understand how their data is being tracked, collected, and sold, while those that do understand the complexities of data tracking don’t have the resources to protect their information. - well in simple terms.

There is a perception that as more and more consumers become aware of the significant value created from sharing their data, they will dig in their heels and demand more control over their "personal/ behaviour/ identification information". Rather than slowing the economy, however, this change will further spur the growth of a “privacy economy,” which will empower consumers to engage with companies on their own terms and, with time, give marketers even better and more actionable data. (may be this is one scenario)

So your digital footprint has value and putting it in a locker makes it really easy to steal........