Respect Network has launched public registration for the world's first global network for trusted private data sharing today in London City Hall, in a move that aims to restore privacy on the internet.
Over 70 founding partners from London to Tel Aviv and from Seattle to Sydney have joined the effort, bringing significant scale and expertise to the development of this new network.
"Protection of our digital life is the civil rights issue of our time. Being able to choose what happens with our private information on the internet is something we should all have the right to do -- for our sakes, and for the sake of future generations. Now is the time to act," explains Respect Network CEO Drummond Reed.
"Respect Network takes a fundamentally different approach to ownership and use of information than existing social networks and cloud providers. It puts control back into the hands of individuals and not only gives them the choice of how their information is used, but compensates them for their value. No longer are people unwittingly the product. For €17/$25 consumers can purchase a lifetime membership and receive their own lifetime cloud, safe in the knowledge that their digital rights are back in their control."
The goal of the Respect Network First Million Member Campaign is to raise $25 million to grow the network. Of this, $8 million will go towards a Development Grant Program to fund development of new applications and service for the network.
"It's a global 'cloudfunding' that enables people to invest directly in the future of internet privacy -- and reap the reward of starting to capture the value of their personal data and relationships," said Reed.
As part of their membership, every individual member receives a lifetime "cloud name" that begins with an equals sign, e.g. =your.name. This is a fully portable, private digital address for life. "Cloud names will become the symbol of this shift towards privacy and personal control on the Internet," said Reed.
By following international principles of Privacy by Design, the Respect Network turns the existing centralized social network model upside down. Instead, every person or business on the network has their own private cloud from the provider of their choice.
All sharing is over private peer-to-peer connections between members -- there is no middleman.
The Respect Network has been in development for over three years by internet architects and founding partner companies including Neustar, a provider of real-time cloud-based information services and data analytics. Other UK-based founding partners include: Allfiled, Ctrl-Shift, CitizenMe, Digital Animal, miiCard, mydex, MyProfessionalID, Paoga, Social Safe, SmarterComplaints and The Customers' Voice.