We built a better way to protect personal data across the web. The internet was built to connect people, openly and safely. But over time, control shifted to a few large Big Tech companies. Data became centralized, harvested, and sold. Users lost ownership of their own information. We believe it’s time to take it back. There is a way to give users and businesses back control, and we built it.
Our founders, Arno Otto and Martijn van Dam have experienced the shift of the web and felt a calling to change this. They share the vision of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. With use of his Solid (Social Linked Data) protocol, we’re helping to rebuild the web as it was meant to be — one where data flows between people and platforms with full user control, not through surveillance and tracking. Our mission is simple: make privacy usable, and data ethical again.
Utonomy operates on top of a foundation: the Stichting Nederlandse Datakluis (or SNDK) — a trusted, independent foundation that safeguards every user’s data. All personal data remains stored and governed by the foundation. This guarantees that information can never be commercially owned, sold, or misused — only shared with explicit consent. The foundation was originally initiated by our founders to serve Dutch media companies, supported by a EU grant and R&D support from media partners.
Utonomy was built to expand this technology beyond the Dutch media ecosystem. We’re bringing the same secure, ethical data infrastructure to e-commerce, publishers, and other digital businesses across Europe. With Utonomy, any organisation can now connect to the Datakluis infrastructure and access verified, consent-based user data — without ever compromising privacy.
To return data ownership to individuals
To make privacy an enabler, not a blocker
To reduce dependency on Big Tech infrastructure
To ensure AI and digital innovation are built on ethical data
To prove that trust is the most powerful driver of growth