In recent years, the world has experienced an exponential increase in the amount of data being generated, collected, stored and used. In addition, the context in which consumers manage any decision-making regarding the use of their data has significantly evolved. Public scepticism of corporate practices relating to the use of consumer data has been fuelled by high-profile cases of questionable conduct. At the same time, the challenges of the COVID-19 economic recovery, equitable energy distribution and climate change have provided excellent examples of how, if properly managed, consumer data can be very effectively shared and used for public benefit. 

While the context for decision-making on data sharing has evolved to reflect new use cases and consumer preferences, the required infrastructure investment has not kept pace with this seismic shift in the data landscape. Making consumer-permissioned data sharing work has emerged as a major implementation challenge. Cross-border data-sharing interoperability has also been spotlighted as a critical need. To fully support individuals’ decision-making regarding the use of their data, the ecosystem needs to evolve towards a more global and consistent framework for data permissioning.