yes, i do think of it that way: as we leave all this data exhaust behind us, i keep wanting a system to have it all in one place – or at least, an "interface" that shows it to me in one place, even if that's not how the backend really is.

thanks for the book recommendation - i will check it out this weekend!

Academia has been thinking about this for a while. I'm involved with several projects that aim to put users in control of their 'digital footprint' and what you've described are two aspects of the work. First is how to collate and access all the data and second is how to allow third parties to query/process that data in a way that respects a users' privacy. [1]

I'm keen to commercialize the work when it's ready but it's a research project precisely because it's a tough problem. Of course, one approach is to just make that personal info public but I don't think that will really benefit users in the long term (companies would certainly benefit, though)

[1] http://perscon.net/overview/dataware.html

Jaron Lanier looks and behaves like a total eccentric, and his ideas can seem pretty out there, but I found his latest book to be a really interesting read. This idea is not the same thing though, because the data ends up being more or less public and demonetized. Companies are already collecting lots of data about you. This, in theory, just gives them even more of it, free of charge.

Your point is of course correct. I was trying to point out the similarity in viewpoint of some of what abraininavat had replied to the OP (not the OP himself).

Ignoring how JL looks and behaves (which is not really germane to the point), the commoditisation of everyone's data by a select few "Siren Servers" (to use Laniers term) without any payment to the originators themselves is - in the long term - not a viable strategy.

Regardless, I stand by my point that his book is thought-provoking and worrisome, though it does not give any concrete answers.. that of course is up to us as a tech "community" to fix (before we all merrily cut off our noses to spite our faces).

edit: corrected the username i was referring to, and spelling.