WASHINGTON, DC, May 26, 2011 – In its industry debut, Personal (www.personal.com) today announced that it was one of two companies to win the Innovator Spotlight Audience Choice Award at the 2nd annual Privacy Identity Innovation conference (pii2011) in Santa Clara, CA. Personal, which is in private beta, enables individuals to own, control access to and benefit from their data.

Before an audience of more than 250 leading executives, technologists, policy experts and academics, co-founder and CEO Shane Green demonstrated how Personal’s first product, a web and mobile data vault, enables people to organize, find and give permission-based access to personal data across all aspects of their lives.

“We are grateful to our peers for recognizing our mission to change current practices around data ownership, privacy and identity in favor of individuals,” said Green. “We think people will look back in a few years and wonder how companies ever thought they owned our personal data – and could pocket its economic value all for themselves.”

Green also introduced the company’s Owner Data Agreement, which provides a new legal framework to protect the data rights of individuals. The agreement was developed with the most recent director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Jon Dudas, who also serves on Personal’s advisory board.

To learn more about the company or request an invitation to Personal’s private beta, visit www.personal.com. Follow Personal on Twitter at www.twitter.com/personal.

About Personal
Personal is a web and mobile platform that enables individuals to own, control access to and benefit from their data. The company was founded in 2009 on the guiding principle that people, not companies, should own their data and decide how it is used. Personal’s private data vault allows individuals to organize and manage a wide array of personal information, and control who gets access and what they can see. Personal’s Owner Data Agreement requires recipients of data to contractually acknowledge the data ownership rights of the individual. The company is also launching Personal Access, a permission-based API program for partners and developers. Requests for invitations to Personal’s closed beta can be made at www.personal.com.

Media Contact: Karen Sippel | 202.559.7318 | media@personal.com