A system and method for providing an information vault so that individual owners of personal data may control and manage the access and dissemination of the personal data and provides for the owner of the personal data to receive compensation for the use of the personal data, thus, in effect, the personal data becomes a valuable commodity analogous to money. A business model is provided that allows competitive, unbiased trusted third parties whose business is protecting the information analogous to how a commercial bank protects money. Centralized protected storage of personal data is provided, thereby minimizing the number of copies that may be in existence. Second party access to the centralized storage of personal data may be made on-demand, as required for commerce, with a provision for assessing fees for accesses.