  Today, web-based companies use user data to provide and enhance services to
users, both individually and collectively. Some also analyze user data for
other purposes, for example to select advertisements or price offers for users.
Some even use or allow the data to be used to evaluate investments in financial
markets. Users' concerns about how their data is or may be used has prompted
legislative action in the European Union and congressional questioning in the
United States. But data can also benefit society, for example giving early
warnings for disease outbreaks, allowing in-depth study of relationships
between genetics and disease, and elucidating local and macroeconomic trends in
a timely manner. So, instead of just a focus on privacy, in the future, users
may insist that their data be used on their behalf. We explore potential
frameworks for groups of consenting, informed users to pool their data for
their own benefit and that of society, discussing directions, challenges, and
evolution for such efforts.
