This is part of a talk I gave at Ctrl-SHIFT's THE PERSONAL INFORMATION ECONOMY 2014 conference. We are living in the midst of a digital data explosion. Much of this data – about who we are and what we do – is personal data, and it’s becoming a critical component of business strategy for consumer facing brands, organisations and their suppliers. Leveraging personal data effectively can improve sales and marketing, brand perception, innovation, customer acquisition, retention and experience as well as reducing the cost to serve and managing the risks of compliance and security. To unleash its potential, however, organisations have to get their approach to personal data right. They need to build trust around data collection and use. They need to demonstrate customer value.