With everything from smartphones, smart stores and smart homes gathering and commoditizing information about us, the question of the value, and vulnerability of individuals’ private data has become a pressing concern. It has also become a big business opportunity.

A study, sponsored by Silent Circle, an encrypted communications company, this week found that 88% of people in the U.K. believe their mobile calls and texts are being tapped. Silent Circle CEO Mike Janke said the results show that “people are now products, and their private information is the currency.”

Individuals are increasingly looking to encryption apps for privacy and data storage services which keep their data safe, and private. And businesses are looking to cash in on rising data-privacy worry.

Ctrl-Shift, a London-based marketing consultancy, says it is seeing an average launch rate of one new “personal information management services” initiative a week. These companies and organizations, or PIMS, aim to help individuals assert more control over their data, and get more value from it.

In a research paper, the company says the emerging market of PIMS could be one day be worth £16.5 billion ($27.5 billion) in the U.K. alone. Some potential growth areas: specialized personal data vaults, sophisticated personal data management, data monitoring, and helping people make decisions, like price comparison sites and peer review services.

“One of the big growth areas we are seeing is in personal data management and identity services,” Alan Mitchell, strategy director at Ctrl-Shift, said in an interview. “These are all services which help individuals gather data about themselves, store it, analyze it, and then control who they share the data with. Other services can help people remain anonymous,” Mr. Mitchell said.

Source: blogs.wsj.com