The Dutch Data Vault Foundation manages and develops personal data vaults (or personal online data stores - PODS) that return control over personal data to the individual, while organizations in the public and private domains can continue to innovate responsibly with personal data.
Everywhere on the internet, you leave data behind. With everything you read, watch, listen to, buy, and click — often without realising it.
That data says a lot about who you are: your preferences, interests, beliefs, and behaviour. Through cookies, logins, and profiles, sometimes hundreds of parties collect data from a single website visit. This erodes the right to privacy, leaves organisations vulnerable to cybercrime, and allows the digital economy to be dominated by a handful of large players.
That needs to change. That is why SNDK exists.
SNDK manages the infrastructure for personal data stores — also known as pods. We use the open Solid standard, ensuring that individuals and organisations are never locked in to a single provider. Any organisation that wants to use data stores can gain access to our infrastructure.
SNDK is responsible for secure storage, access rules, and independent oversight. Data is never sold or commercially exploited. This separation between infrastructure and commercial use is deliberate — it safeguards trust and public accountability for the long term.
SNDK was instrumental in creating the Upod software and holds a non-profit licence to deploy it for public purposes. The commercial development and rollout of Upod is handled by Utonomy — an independent company serving organisations in the private sector. SNDK focuses on public and societal applications: from broadcasters and governments to healthcare, education, and housing associations.
Organisations in the public domain can offer personalised digital services without tracking or profiling, fully in line with public values and GDPR.
SNDK emerged from a collaboration between Dutch media organisations that recognised early on that personal data needed a neutral, public alternative. Since then, the approach has expanded across sectors and borders. Our initiatives have been made possible in part by European funding (ERDF, Kansen voor West) and developed together with public institutions, media companies, and research organisations.
What began as an experiment has grown into stable, long-term infrastructure — now in use in concrete applications, including large-scale implementations at media platforms.
As AI and data-driven systems become an integral part of service delivery, the need for infrastructure that gives users control over their own data is growing. SNDK is committed to providing that foundational layer: independent, transparent, and built for the long term.
