MyTerms

IEEE 7012 Machine-Readable Personal Privacy Terms

What is MyTerms?

Today, every website and app presents you with a "terms of service" that you must accept to use the service. You have no say in those terms. You click "I agree" because the alternative is "go away".

MyTerms inverts this. Instead of the service dictating terms to you, you proffer terms to the service — through your personal AI agent (Bob). The service can accept or decline your terms, just as you currently accept or decline theirs.

This is made possible by IEEE 7012-2025, the first standard for machine-readable personal privacy terms. Published in January 2026, it defines a protocol by which individuals and organisations can exchange, negotiate, and enforce data-sharing agreements — automatically.

How it Works

The IEEE 7012 flow has four stages:

1. You configure preferences — tell Bob what terms to proffer in different contexts (e.g. "proffer PDC-AI to any AI provider")
2. Bob proffers terms — when you interact with a service, Bob sends your machine-readable terms via the IEEE 7012 protocol
3. The service evaluates — the service's agent reads your terms and determines if they are compatible with its policies
4. Agreement or negotiation — the service accepts, declines, or counter-proposes. Bob records the outcome in your personal agreement ledger

See Jon Udell's interactive demonstration of the IEEE 7012 workflow for a visual walkthrough.

The Five Agreement Types

IEEE 7012 defines five standard agreement types. Bob supports all five:

How Bob Implements This

Bob's MyTerms implementation has four layers:

• Agreement Ledger — every agreement proffered, received, accepted, declined, or revoked is recorded with timestamps and evidence
• Preferences Engine — you configure what terms Bob should proffer by context (default, swarm, bank, ai-provider, etc.)
• Discovery Endpoint — external services can query /.well-known/myterms to learn what terms Bob supports
• Chat Tools — you can manage your terms through natural conversation with Bob ("show me my terms", "revoke the agreement with Google")

API Reference

All endpoints require authentication (API key or session token) unless noted.

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/.well-known/myterms	Public discovery — what terms this agent supports
GET	/myterms/types	List all supported IEEE 7012 agreement types
POST	/myterms/agreements	Create (proffer or record) a new agreement
GET	/myterms/agreements	List agreements (filter by status, counterparty, type)
GET	/myterms/agreements/{id}	Get a single agreement by ID
POST	/myterms/agreements/{id}/accept	Accept a received agreement
POST	/myterms/agreements/{id}/decline	Decline a received agreement
POST	/myterms/agreements/{id}/revoke	Revoke an active agreement
GET	/myterms/preferences	List all term-proffering preferences
POST	/myterms/preferences	Set or update a preference for a context

Why This Matters

The current model of privacy is broken. You "consent" to terms you haven't read, written by lawyers whose job is to maximise data extraction. GDPR gave you rights, but enforcement is slow and the power imbalance remains.

IEEE 7012 changes the game because:

• Terms are machine-readable — no more 47-page documents. Your agent reads them in milliseconds.
• You proffer first — the individual sets the terms, not the corporation. This inverts the power dynamic.
• Agreements are auditable — every proffer, acceptance, and revocation is logged in your personal ledger. You have a complete record of who agreed to what.
• Revocation is instant — change your mind? Revoke the agreement. Bob notifies the counterparty. No waiting 30 days for a "data deletion request".

Learn More

• MyTerms.info — the official resource for IEEE 7012
• Interactive IEEE 7012 Demo — Jon Udell's visual walkthrough of the protocol
• IEEE 7012-2025 Standard — the published standard
• ProjectVRM — the Berkman Klein Center initiative that inspired this work
• Customer Commons — stewards of the MyTerms agreement types