We believe in digital self-determination, privacy as a human right and that personal data belongs to users, not corporations.
BitsaboutMe was founded in 2017 by Christian Kunz and Christophe Legendre in Bern, Switzerland. The two met during their time as CEO and CTO of ricardo.ch. Previous to this, they held different executive positions at eBay, leboncoin.fr, libertysurf.fr and McKinsey & Company – always with a focus on data and online business models. With the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2016, the starting signal was given for the two. Since then it has been their mission to democratize the data industry sustainably with a data fair trade approach.
In times of exponential growth of data volumes, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, mass surveillance and mass manipulation (nudging), staying in control over our personal data is becoming a key issue for society. Controling our digital identity at the source is our best chance to counter abuse by corporations, fraudsters or authoritarian governments.
When used responsively, personal data is highly valuable for the individual user as well as for society at large. That is why we do not try to erase all data traces, but rather give users control and transparency over what happens with their data. They themselves can freely decide what their information is being used for.
Use Data to Your Own Advantage
In the past, data souvereignity was a utopia, because control over personal data was exercised solely by few large data companies that have no interest in sharing their competitive advantage. When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in 2018, it greatly expanded the rights that EU citizens have with respect to their personal data. Among other things, users now have the right to a copy of their data and must be asked for their consent before their data is being used.
Our mission is to empower users to make use of their new rights. BitsaboutMe is a tool to easily manage all personal data and a platform to share it with full transparency and control. When users agree to share they can earn money or other rewards. This data fairtrade model offers a great competitive advantages for companies and institutions, which can now obtain high-quality data directly from their customers and no longer have to pay Google, Facebook and others. In these three short video episodes from Jaron Lanier and The New York Times you can find a good description of what we do at BitsaboutMe and why we do it.
The BitsaboutMe Team
Christian Kunz
Cofounder & CEO
Christian Kunz, Cofounder & CEO, is an online expert and data enthusiast. He is convinced that only user centric data models can protect privacy and guarantee that consumers get a fair share of the value generated from their data. He holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from MIT and has spent his corporate career with McKinsey & Company, at eBay where he was responsible for the global advertising business and most recently as CEO of ricardo.ch.
Christian Kunz
Cofounder & CEO
Christophe Legendre
Cofounder & CTO
Christophe Legendre, Cofounder & CTO, has been passionate technologist throughout his career. He makes sure we follow the highest standards of security, performance and scalability. Christophe holds a Master in Computer Science from the University of Lille and spent his career as tech lead in R & D and as CTO of two leading online marketplaces, leboncoin.fr and ricardo.ch.
Christophe Legendre
Cofounder & CTO
Nevena Radovanovic
Front-End Developer
Nevena Radovanovic, Front-End Developer, likes creating useful, pleasing and easy to use interfaces. Her goal is to provide end users enjoyable and high quality user experience. She holds a Master in Computer Science from the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
Nevena Radovanovic
Front-End Developer
Luka Hamza
Designer & Developer
Luka Hamza, Designer & Developer, wants to combine his technical knowledge and sound problem solving skills and apply it to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), so that the online privacy of users is optimally protected. He holds a Master in Computer Science from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Luka Hamza
Designer & Developer
Xiaochen Wang
Data Scientist
Xiaochen Wang, Data Scientist, integrates machine learning into our application. He is a PhD student at the University of Bern and holds a Master of Science in Engineering from Tianjin University, China.
Xiaochen Wang
Data Scientist
Lara Hutmacher
Marketing Manager
Lara Hutmacher, Marketing Manager, manages communication and social media. Her goal is to raise the awareness that users need to take control of their personal data. She holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Applied Sciences in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and speaks four languages fluently.
Lara Hutmacher
Marketing Manager
