Patent ID: 8914342

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, from a user by a processor, a plurality of personal data management policies for the user that are unique to the user, the personal data management policies governing how personal data of the user is to be managed, the personal data management policies indicating a type of personal data to be collected, storing of the personal data, and sharing of the personal data; storing in a memory, by the processor, the personal data management policies in association with a situation and an identifier of the user; receiving, by the processor, from the user a modification to the data management policies stored in the memory; updating, by the processor, the data management policies stored in the memory based on the modification; constructing, by the processor, a user profile for the user; storing in the memory, by the processor, the user profile in association with the identifier of the user; receiving, by the processor, personal data of the user collected in one or more situations by one or more collection devices; determining, by the processor, whether the personal data complies with one or more of the personal data management policies; if the personal data complies with the personal data management policies, then storing in the memory, by the processor, the personal data in association with the identifier of the user and the policy indicating the storing of the personal data; processing, by the processor the personal data according to one or more of the data management policies with respect to processing personal data of the user in a specific situation; the processing of the personal data comprises: aggregating the personal data according to one or more of the personal data management policies, filtering the personal data according to one or more of the personal data management policies, characterizing the personal data according to one or more of the personal data management policies, applying one or more data models to the personal data according to one or more of the personal data management policies, and sharing the personal data with one or more third parties according to one or more of the personal data management policies; and providing, by the processor, a centralized interface to the user for managing the personal data stored in the memory.