MyTerms is the public name and ecosystem around IEEE 7012-2025, “IEEE Standard for Machine Readable Privacy Terms,” which defines how individuals (as first parties) can proffer privacy terms that services (second parties) can accept as a contract, with records kept by both sides for later retrieval, audit, or dispute - standards.ieee.org 
Doc Searls describes MyTerms as a flip of the current consent regime: instead of people clicking “I agree” to site policies and cookie banners, a site agrees to the person’s declared privacy requirements (for example limiting tracking to what the person allows) - doc.searls.com
MyTerms also positions itself as a foundation layer for “agentic” interactions, where software acting for the person can carry and present their terms consistently across sites, apps, and AI-mediated services - standards.ieee.org
# What launched today
Doc Searls announced a MyTerms launch event at Imperial College London (with a live online option), framed as “MyTerms is done and ready to begin,” with registration links for in-person and online attendance - doc.searls.com - mytermslondon.eventbrite.com - mytermswebinar.eventbrite.com
The IEEE standard page lists IEEE 7012-2025 as “Active,” with a publication date in January 2026, and describes its scope as covering websites, applications, and AI agents - standards.ieee.org
# Core idea
MyTerms treats the person as a first party in each interaction, able to point to a standard-form agreement (or set of agreements) from an independent roster, which the service can accept, producing an electronically signed agreement (or agent-signed equivalent) and keeping matching records on both sides - standards.ieee.org
This is explicitly not a “negotiate every clause with every site” model: the IEEE description frames it as choosing from standard-form agreements and having the other side accept one, with bespoke negotiation outside the scope of the standard - standards.ieee.org
# Agreements and ecosystem
The MyTerms project site describes an initial set of five standardised agreements (presented as an early set to get market feedback ahead of broader rollout), plus an “Alliance” concept for partners promoting adoption and compliance - myterms.info
Doc Searls’ overview page also points to a simplest baseline MyTerm called “SD-BASE” (“Service Delivery only”), intended to restrict tracking and sharing beyond what is necessary to deliver the service - doc.searls.com
# How it might work in practice
A practical MyTerms deployment is typically discussed as needing browser-side support (for the person) and site/app-side support (for the service), so the person’s chosen MyTerms can be presented, accepted, and recorded in a standard way - doc.searls.com
Because the standard emphasises auditable records, “agreement logging” becomes a first-class feature rather than a hidden byproduct of cookies or vendor consent strings, and the proof of agreement matters as much as the signalling step - standards.ieee.org
# Relationship to VRM and the Intention Economy
MyTerms sits inside the broader VRM idea-space (tools that help individuals manage relationships with vendors), and is presented by Searls as a prerequisite for healthier, more voluntary markets where intention can be signalled without surveillance-first advertising - doc.searls.com - projectvrm.org
# Limits and open questions
Adoption is the central challenge: the web’s dominant economic machinery is surveillance advertising, so the strongest early fit is likely with organisations that can operate without cross-site tracking or third-party data brokerage - myterms.info
Implementation details will matter enormously (browser UX, site integration, storage/retrieval patterns, and how disputes are handled in real life), and Searls’ own writing frames this as needing a proof-of-concept toolchain to get real deployment feedback - doc.searls.com
# Get involved
MyTerms maintains a project site with “Get involved” and “Donate” pathways, alongside FAQs aimed at both individuals and organisations - myterms.info