The (Pro) Consumer Genome: The Rise of Customer Agents in the Personal Data Market

By Ryan McConville and Steven Mong

Commerce – the activities related to the buying and selling of goods and services — relies on an effective exchange of personal data. In its simplest form, the seller solicits personal information from the buyer (what she likes, what she doesn’t, what she’s looking to spend) and the buyer responds with data that either helps or hurts the chances of transacting a deal. If the information swap is successful, a sale may result. And so the sharing of data greases the wheels of trade.