Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik will share a stage with Martha Stewart, George Clooney, Russell Simmons, Muhammad Yunus, and Jeff Taylor at the Global Leadership Forum in Australia. The one-day event will help attendees “unwrap the concepts, vision and motivation that made these breakthrough leaders capable of challenging business norms and inventing new ways of thinking, working and living.”

Michael’s presentation is entitled “Online & On-Guard: How to Build Brands & Protect Privacy.” The Global Leadership Forum is December 12th.

Check out the official Global Leadership Forum website for more information on this special event and the other presenters. You can also follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #globalleadershipforum.

Forrester Research has seen the future, and the future is “personal data management.” In a new report, the prestigious research organization says that shifts in the economy will allow consumers to gain control over all of the data available about them online. This will be achieved primarily though the use of “personal data lockers,” or individual repositories where individuals can store and access their data to share and sell with marketers.

Currently, the data economy (which generates billions of dollars annually) is unfairly balanced in favor of marketers. Often, consumers don’t understand how their data is being tracked, collected, and sold, while those that do understand the complexities of data tracking don’t have the resources to protect their information.

As more and more consumers become aware of the significant cost associated with sharing data, they will dig in their heels and demand more control over their personal information. Rather than slowing the economy, however, this change will further spur the growth of a “privacy economy,” which will empower consumers to engage with companies on their own terms and, with time, give marketers even better and more actionable data.

Here at Reputation.com, we are happy to be leading the way in this new privacy economy. As we explained when we announced our Series D funding, Reputation.com is dedicated to developing innovative new technologies that allow consumers to control how they appear online. Currently, we are working toward this goal through the development of a Data Privacy Vault.

As the Forrester report points out, consumers will begin to take control of their data when doing is convenient and offers them some demonstrable value. Reputation.com’s advances in the personal data management field will allow this to happen.

This afternoon, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik is appearing on Bloomberg TV to talk about online privacy issues, the value of data to Internet advertisers and data miners, and how privacy-centric business models can find success in the Internet economy.

The segment will air live on Bloomberg TV at 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET. You can watch it online at Bloomberg.com/TV. We’ll have a recap of Michael’s segment after it airs here on the Reputation.com blog.

Reputation.com is proud to announce that we have secured $41 million in a Series D round of funding led by Menlo Park-based August Capital, with support from Insight Capital and existing investors including Jafco Ventures; Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers; and Bessemer Venture Partners.

We are extremely excited about this round of funding and we look forward to putting it to good use in developing new products and services that will our customers further protect their reputation and privacy online.

For more information about the funding, check out coverage of the news from the Wall Street Journal or read our official press release below.

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Funding Supports Reputation.com’s Growth of a New Ecosystem of Digital Control

Reputation.com, leader in online reputation management and privacy control, today announced its Series D financing of $41 Million led by August Capital, which funds companies differentiated by technical innovation and entrepreneurial excellence. Existing investors include JAFCO Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Floodgate Fund.

Reputation.com Founder and CEO, Michael Fertik, comments on the funding, “With the explosion of social computing — including gaming, social networks, online sharing, social media — we increasingly live our lives online. But that doesn’t mean we have to hand over our life’s keys to the Web. Digital identity control is a necessary antidote to the architecture of the Web, and one that consumers are demanding.”

Multi billion dollar industries, including search engines, social networking and online advertising, are built around online data, information the World Economic Forum likens to a “new type of raw material… on par with capital and labor.” As the market for individuals’ personal information online continues to grow at a rapid pace, companies are developing new ways to mash-up and profit from that data. Meanwhile, most life transactions and decisions are influenced by the Internet, from hiring to dating to business decisions. Reputation.com is investing in the business of online reputation control, giving consumers authority over their digital lives. The company will use this funding to grow the size of the company and the scope of its unique, technical solutions.

“The data surge that we’re witnessing will only continue to grow, as will new ways to exploit that data. Reputation.com goes against the predominant ecosystem of Internet companies to give individuals back control of personal information and data online,” said Howard Hartenbaum of August Capital. “The Social Web has created a massive industry online and the next huge category will be for security and control of our digital lives.”

Reputation.com delivers singular technology solutions to make it easy for individuals to monitor and control what the Web says about them. The company’s free and paid solutions combine reputation science, sentiment analysis, persona isolation and cloud refinement to cover every aspect of digital life, including social networks, social media, online search, data brokers and people search databases. More information about product suite available here.

With the backing of Kleiner Perkins, Bessemer, JAFCO and now August Capital, Reputation.com has primed an industry focused on providing individuals and businesses with the necessary tools to define and control their reputation online. The company serves customers in more than 100 countries, and was recently recognized by the World Economic Forum as a 2011 Technology Pioneer Award winner. Reputation.com is also endorsed by the leading analyst firm, Gartner Inc., as a 2011 Cool Vendor.

About Reputation.com

Reputation.com’s mission is to empower individuals and businesses to control their privacy and reputation online. Formerly ReputationDefender, Reputation.com was founded in 2006 and is the pioneer of online reputation management solutions. The company is recognized by World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer 2011 for its global technology leadership and innovation. The privately held company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, has an office in Germany and serves customers in more than 100 countries.

About August Capital

August Capital was founded in 1995 to invest in companies differentiated by technical innovation and entrepreneurial excellence. To date, the August Capital funds total $2.0 billion. August Capital’s partners have more than a century of combined venture experience and together have invested in more than 80 companies across the technology spectrum. These companies represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion and generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue. The partners at August Capital were the earliest investors in a number of ground breaking technology companies including Microsoft, Intuit, Seagate, Silicon Image, Sun Microsystems, Skype, Compaq, Symantec, Sybase, Atheros, Postini, Cobalt, shopping.com, PayCycle, Grand Junction and many more. August Capital is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.augustcap.com.

Reputation.com Founder and CEO Michael Fertik is dedicated to helping victims of online defamation reclaim their lives online. To this end, Michael has led the Reputation.com team in developing unique privacy and reputation protection products, forging partnerships with leading non-profit organizations and businesses, and leading discussions on online reputation management issues around the world.

This Friday, Michael will continue his efforts to protect individuals online during a special edition of 20/20 on ABC entitled “We Find Them.” As part of a special Web Avengers team, which includes Mario Armstrong, Mary Kay Hoal, and Hemanshu Nigam, Michael will work closely with host Chris Cuomo to explain how Web attacks happen, how they spread online, and the steps that individuals can take to protect themselves from defamation online.

During the show, check out the We Find Them website to participate in a live Facebook chat with Michael Fertik and the other Web Avengers on online safety and reputation issues. In the meantime, here’s a preview of the show. In this clip, Michael Fertik explains why outdated laws make it difficult for individuals to fight back against negative and defamatory online content.

“We Find Them” airs this Friday at 10:00PM EST. Tune in then to see Michael and the other Web Avengers talk about personal privacy and online safety in the new digital age. For up-to-the-minute advice on online safety, follow the Web Avengers on Twitter.