Using online data more ethically and responsibly
We know that when we browse the internet or shop online, we leave behind information about ourselves that websites use. We also know that these websites need this data to show us targeted ads and improve our user experience. However, even with the impetus provided by the EU’s data protection strategy, how transparent and ethical are the uses to which websites put our personal data? For over two years, the EU-funded PIMCITY project has been developing tools to boost transparency and give users control over their data. One of the tools is the Personal Information Management Systems (PIMS) development kit that helps end users and providers of commercial services on the web to modulate and create new and more transparent markets for data. As more and more of our daily activities take place online, our personal data becomes increasingly necessary to businesses for the development of their products and services. If we are to achieve a fair, prosperous and sustainable digital society, we need to ensure users are informed and that companies make respectful and ethical use of personal data as they strive to grasp new business opportunities.
Tailored solutions
Financed by PIMCITY, the PIMS development kit (PDK) was presented to the public on European Data Protection Day on 28 January 2022. This free tool provides companies with solutions to help them adapt to Europe’s new data regulations. “Practically, it is a set of software components to be used like bricks with specific characteristics, for building the solution tailored to your needs,” reports a press clipping posted on the project’s website. “Choosing between components, one can shape interfaces for both end users that surf the web and need to store their data in safe places to consciously share them later; and companies that can create new markets, collecting and … using data of interest in a transparent way while also being able to provide monetary compensation to end users in exchange for their data.” As Associate Professor Rubén Cuevas of PIMCITY project partner Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, states in a news release posted on ‘EurekAlert!’: “PIMCITY’s PDK offers companies the tools to exploit user data in a respectful way.” As for users, the PDK allows them to store personal data, manage privacy settings, and import, export or anonymise data sets. “The PIMS philosophy allows individuals to manage, control their data, know by who, how and what their data is used for, know the value they generate and share the benefits,” notes Miguel Pérez Subías, President of the Asociación de Usuarios de Internet, Spain, in the same news release. Use of the PIMCITY (PIMCITY: BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATION PERSONAL DATA PLATFORMS) PDK is free. All software is open source and can be accessed in the PIMCITY GitLab repository. For more information, please see: PIMCITY project website
Keywords
PIMCITY, data, personal data, data protection, company, internet, end user