Whoever controls the server controls the context. And whoever controls the context controls the outcome. For nearly forty years, the dominant architecture of the digital world has been client–server. It powered the web. It enabled ecommerce. It scaled cloud computing. And it quietly shaped the power structure of the internet. Now it’s time for Agent-Agent.

A new technical standard, known as vCon (Virtual Conversation), is being developed within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). vCon defines a structured, privacy-aware format for capturing, storing, exchanging, and analysing conversational data.

Our data shapes thousands of buying decisions every year — yet today, it mostly works against you. With AI, fiduciary agents, and MyTerms, individuals can finally put their data to work on their own terms. This article explores why that shift will redefine marketing, trust, and digital power.

Who really works for you online? Most digital services profit from your data, not your interests. At DataPal, we believe personal data now matters too much for that. Here we explore why fiduciary is becoming the most important word in data, privacy and AI—and what it changes when technology is designed to work for individuals, not platforms.

…In fact any relationship that has a digital component benefits from both parties having their own relationship management capabilities. As peers. Not the current model in which one party has the tooling and the power, and the other can only do as they are allowed. That’s clearly where we are headed with DataPal.

Building apps is easy. Right? We can build a quick app for that! However managing user data safely is not. Poor data handling creates security, privacy and governance risks that slow teams down and erode trust. New standards and personal data platforms now allow developers to plug in secure, consent-driven user data services — accelerating development, improving UX, and putting individuals firmly in control of their data.

For 25 years we’ve accepted a one-way model: visit a site, sign up, give away data, live inside their silo. DataPal argues that this is no longer the only way—or the best way. A new paradigm is emerging where individuals hold their own data, control who accesses it, and benefit from richer, safer and more seamless digital experiences. Using simple examples like Travel Log, we show how interoperable, user-controlled data unlocks better apps, lower compliance burdens and entirely new possibilities.

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management emerged as a software solution and business definition when new technical capabilities emerged. The new possibility that emerged (in 1995 or so) was that three main business functions (marketing, selling and customer service) could be underpinned by a single database; the mythical ‘single view of the customer’.

Today’s children are growing up in the most surveilled environment in human history. Every click, every milestone, every life event — tracked, analysed and often monetised. A child today could face 80 or even 100 years of digital surveillance. MyTerms is the mechanism which children can grow up with, benefiting from digital technology and connectivity WITHOUT the shockingly bad bits that they have now.

Buying and Selling Homes – a DataPal Use Case! We wanted to explore how a new approach to the provision and flow of information, using the DataPal principles and platform, can addresses the challenges which characterise a very frustrating and opaque process for many stakeholders.

Building Trust Through Action: How AI Shopping Agents Bring DataPal's Vision to Life. From theory to transaction: our journey building a customer-side AI agent that puts individuals in control of their shopping experience.

So I’m going into a week of intense work on MyTerms/ IEEE7012 - at VRM Day, Internet Identity Workshop and the Agentic Protocol Workshop. All at The Computer History Museum in Mountain View; as ever an appropriate place for this kind of work. And then multiple working sessions, dinners and drinks around those.

Imagine being able to use your own energy, insurance, banking, broadband, pension or rewards data to compare deals, switch provider, optimise spending, support research, join group buying, resolve customer service issues, or safely share access with family members, attorneys or executors.

People should have their own digital record of the education and their employment that they control and which works on their behalf - for life.

My Personal Agents and how they will radically improve CRM and change Customer Experience (CX).

The way we as individuals interact with companies (our "suppliers") is on the brink of a major change, driven by the rise of personal agents. These AI-powered "customer-side agents" are set to revolutionize CRM by shifting control from companies to individuals.

I’m going to start with MyTerms and work inwards because that is the protective outer layer / wrapper which shields and empowers the other components - and thus the individual human behind them. Firstly - what do we mean by ‘MyTerms’?

The relationship between companies and their customers has always been a delicate dance, but in the digital age, it feels increasingly one-sided. Businesses demand more and more data from individuals, yet struggle to manage it effectively, leading to hidden costs and missed opportunities.

In looking at the concept of 'smart data', and data portability more generally, it would be great if there was one area that stood out as both tactically and strategically as a great place to start. To cross that chasm, one might consider the following start points.

What if there was a viable means for individuals to receive fair value and utility from their data, and for businesses to directly access the personal data they need in a transparent, compliant way?