Abstract
Individuals today have no control over the way their personal information is being used even though they are the ones to suffer the consequences of any unwanted uses of their information. We propose addressing this externality through the creation of a market for personal information, where licenses to access individuals’ personal information will be voluntarily traded. Through this market, satisfactory compensation to the information owner is provided, whilst personal information remains under the owner’s control. Using cryptographic tools and micropayments we propose and develop a prototype for personal information trades where the above principles are implemented and tested.