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London based\u00a0People.io<\/a>\u00a0has taken its first steps outside the UK, expanding\u00a0its data sharing rewards platform into Germany \u2014 where it\u2019s launched\u00a0a co-branded version of the app with carrier o2 (called o2 Get), targeting the latter\u2019s ~24 million customers.<\/p>\n The People.io app is\u00a0also available to download via the App Store and Google Play, and o2 parent company Telef\u00f3nica Germany will also be pushing the apps\u00a0across its full\u00a0market\u00a0footprint of 44M customers. The telco\u00a0link\u00a0follows People.ioIn going\u00a0through the telco\u2019s\u00a0Wayra Germany accelerator last year. They\u00a0say they\u2019re the first Wayra-backed startup to launch a co-branded product with Telef\u00f3nica.<\/p>\n \u201cBy co-branding with o2 we benefit from a respected and well known consumer brand which\u2026 gives us a fast track to scale; meaning we can focus on creating a great product experience that delivers on our vision to give people\u00a0<\/span>ownership of their data,\u201d says co-founder\u00a0Nicholas Oliver.<\/p>\n \u201cOur decision to launch in Germany was driven by their strong, consumer-centric data privacy laws. This meant we were focussed on building a product that could meet even the most stringent data privacy laws with a view to further market expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n Oliver says the team is\u00a0expecting to get around\u00a0250,000 downloads in the next 6 months in Germany; increasing to just under 1 million by the end of the\u00a0first year.<\/p>\n The startup is apparently working with around a dozen\u00a0telcos across 35 markets at this point \u2014 although it remains to be seen how many of those conversations will turn into fully fledged co-branded app efforts.<\/p>\n In o2 Germany\u2019s case, People.io\u2019s philosophy around user data ownership clearly meshes with a Telef\u00f3nica strategic push to give data back to users<\/a>\u00a0aimed at fostering customer loyalty.<\/p>\n We first covered People.io\u00a0back in January 2016<\/a>, when it had just launched a beta version in Shoreditch, giving locals the chance to share personal data in exchange for building up credits to redeem against digital services\u00a0like streaming music. It\u2019s since scaled out to be UK wide.<\/p>\n The core idea is to flip the notion that Internet users have to\u00a0\u2018pay\u2019 to use \u2018free\u2019 products by having\u00a0their personal data covertly and persistently harvested by these services. Instead, the platform aims to give people an incentive to share data willingly with it, for targeted ad purposes, rewarding them for sharing data with credits to redeem against different services (and by not sharing their data directly with others).<\/p>\n The People.io app is broadly aimed at\u00a018 to 25 year olds for now, offering\u00a0a familiar\u00a0Tinder-style swipe interface for them to\u00a0respond to questions about their likes and dislikes to start inputting personal data into the platform. They can also choose to connect other data sources, such as their email account, in order to\u00a0share more info\u00a0\u2014 with increased rewards for sharing more.<\/p>\n Advertisers are able to\u00a0target marketing messages at People.io users via the platform, but the startup says users\u2019 data is never\u00a0shared directly with third parties. And the further pledge is that users can delete their account at any point \u2014 which immediately and permanently erases all their data.<\/p>\n Oliver describes the platform\u00a0as \u201ca firewall for people\u201d, and reckons Europe\u2019s incoming General Data Protection Regulation<\/a> (GDPR) will have a serious impact on how the\u00a0ad tech industry operates \u00a0regionally, because it gives consumers greater\u00a0control over how their data is used. The GDPR is due to come into force in May 2018, and includes tough penalties for compliance failures, changing the risks associated with collecting and processing EU citizens\u2019 personal data.<\/p>\n While People.io\u2019s initial product\u00a0pays data sharers\u00a0for viewing targeted ads \u2014 typically redeemed against\u00a0gift cards for Amazon, Starbucks and iTunes, according to\u00a0Oliver, with an option to donate credits earned as cash to charity currently also in testing \u2014 its\u00a0wider vision is around expanding into paid\u00a0services of its own; utilizing users\u2019 data to offer them\u00a0the ability to pay to enhance other digital services they use, without having to lose control of their information.<\/p>\n \u201cThis might apply to health and fitness, connected home or even productivity apps and experiences,\u201d he explains. \u201cOur advertising feature(s) are really just phase one of a far bigger product vision. It provides us with a familiar consumer experience that allows us to develop the initial relationship with the user. From here, we can then educate them on the value associated to their data and demonstrate why taking ownership of it can benefit them; both financially and through enhanced digital experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cA brief example could be with a Spotify playlist. Having a playlist that dynamically changes your upcoming tracks based on your current context (at work, at home, going running, trying to relax) or mood (stressed, energetic, feel like partying). With People<\/span>.io<\/span> \u2014 we\u2019d just tell Spotify \u2018Nic\u2019s at work\u2019 or \u2018Nic is about to go running\u2019 \u2014 without sharing any of the data behind that insight. So that means Spotify can do what it does best, without ever needing access to your digital life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you consider the future of Conversational interfaces, like Amazon Echo, or chat bots; this type of functionality will become increasingly relevant,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n At this still early stage, People.io has around\u00a035,000 accounts activated since\u00a0exiting beta in the UK, with around two-thirds of those characterized\u00a0as \u2018monthly actives\u2019.<\/p>\n On average, Oliver says users engage with the app between two to three times a week. While\u00a0the platform gets around\u00a0half a million user interactions per month at this point.<\/p>\n He says the startup is\u00a0currently raising investment to support \u201ccontinued momentum and growth into other key markets\u201d. Investors to date include Nick Robertson, founder of ASOS; Thomas H\u00f6egh, founder of Lovefilm; and Founders\u2019 Factory, the accelerator founded by Brent Hoberman and backed by Guardian Media Group.<\/p>\n European markets are a priority, thanks to the pro-privacy regulatory environment, but\u00a0Oliver says the team is\u00a0hoping to expand into the first non-EU market by the end of the year. \u201cThe US is certainly a market that we\u2019re keeping an eye on,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/people-io-mobile.png?w=646\")
London based People.io has taken its first steps outside the UK, expanding its data sharing rewards platform into Germany — where it’s launched a co-branded version of the app with carrier o2 (called o2 Get), targeting the latter’s ~24 million customers. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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