CitizenMe builds consumer data platform for brands

CitizenMe, the mobile app that aims to help consumers to get value from their personal data, has opened a platform for marketers to gain deeper insights into individuals’ behaviour.
The company claims that the data exchange will allow businesses to interact with people who are using CitizenMe’s platform to curate their data profiles.
The self-service platform launched in beta last year but is now accessible to all companies. They can also access deeper insights, such as being able to see which topics people are interested in.
Brands are able to obtain data on consumers collected from various sources, including app usage, social media likes and personality traits.
Data belonging to users of the platform is stored on their smartphone and backed up via encryption to a personal cloud. When a business requests data, the user consents to the data being anonymously released from their smartphone. The app currently has 50,000 users.
CitizenMe innovation director Ryan Garner said: “There’s a big problem in the industry where data is bought, sold and mashed together without the consent of the consumer. This is not only unethical but also produces extremely unreliable data, is costly and takes a considerable amount of time. Market research is the source data for the whole marketing and advertising industry and it is perfectly positioned to take centre stage and create new innovative ways to better understand the customer in an ethical and reliable way.”