BitsaboutMe is a young startup based in Bern, Switzerland. We operate in the newly emerging Personal Data Economy.
How it all began
Our two founders Christian and Christophe have spent their careers in various digital businesses. In this context, the use of data always played a crucial role. They met in 2012 as CEO and CTO of ricardo.ch, the Swiss version of eBay. Since those days they shared a common conviction that data is a huge asset.
However, the current deal between consumers and businesses is fundamentally flawed and unfair, as consumers give away their rights in exchange for “free” services wihtout having real alternatives. Changing that paradigm became their joint ambition.
New opportunities
With the sale of ricardo.ch, Christian and Christophe had quit their corporate roles, separately exploring new opportunities. Only shortly thereafter, in spring 2016, the EU passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This new privacy law created the missing link that was needed to fundamentally change the game of personal data.
The two quickly decided that it was the time to act and to build a consumer product that can operationalize the new consumer rights granted by GDPR. In the fall they started BitsaboutMe and are since then working on a solution to empower consumers to reclaim control of their personal data. The vision is to build an online marketplace for personal data, that enables individuals to share their personal data profiles safely and securely with companies.
Our business model
The BitsaboutMe approach is fundamentally different from the current “data for free services” model, because consumers always keep full control over their data. They alone decide what happens with their data. BitsaboutMe’s role is to provide the platform where personal data profiles can be exchanged and traded. This is only done by the users themselves, with their explicit consent and under their full control.
