The Notional Defenseman

"We believe that people who generate data through their own day-to-day activities should have a right to keep a copy of that data. We believe that when people have access to their personal data in a useful format all kinds of new things become possible. We can become better consumers – for example we can know whether a monthly rail pass makes sense for us, or which data-plan would be most economical for our smartphone usage. But more importantly, when our personal data is readily accessible and under our control we can become active collaborators in the quest for solutions to important social problems in areas such as public health, genetics or urban planning."

Michael Zimbalist, vice president and the director of theTimes’ Research and Development Lab, who shared his thoughts on the implications for shutting off users’ access to their data, what can be gained from all this information and why the Lab decided to pursue openpaths.cc. (via poptech)

Editor’s Note: I just signed up for this service, and I have to say that it’s pretty incredible to see, and a really great tool from a “personal measurement” perspective. Am I the only one that was kinda hoping Apple would continue to store this data on our phones? Would it be possible to reactivate it?

(via feltron)

26 May 2011 ·