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Decentriq and InfoSum are data clean rooms that take different approaches to collaboration. Decentriq runs collaborations inside a hardware enclave, where data is never exposed to partners or to Decentriq, and any party can verify it. InfoSum keeps each party's data in separate Bunkers or Beacons and matches records without pooling them. Decentriq is independently owned; WPP owns InfoSum.
What is InfoSum?
InfoSum is a UK-founded data clean room provider built on a decentralized approach to data collaboration, which it calls non-movement of data. Decentralized means that each party's data is held in its own separate environment, and audiences and measurement are built by matching records across those environments instead of pooling everyone's data in one place. A brand and a publisher, for example, each keep their data apart and still build a shared audience.
InfoSum uses two names for these environments. A Bunker is a private cloud instance hosted by InfoSum. The data owner uploads a copy of its data into it, where the data is standardized before matching. A Beacon is the same kind of environment deployed inside the data owner's own cloud account, which makes it the one InfoSum setup where data stays in the owner's own environment.
Key features
- Decentralized environments: Bunkers hosted by InfoSum and, since November 2025, Beacons deployed in a customer's own cloud account
- Privacy-enhancing technologies that InfoSum describes as patented, including permission controls, private set intersection, edge processing, and differential privacy
- Multi-identifier matching with no proprietary ID required
- A drag-and-drop audience builder, with a proprietary query language (IQL) for advanced use
Common use case
A brand and a media owner each publish first-party data to their own environment, match audiences across the two, and build a shared segment for activation or measurement without pooling records.
Background
InfoSum was founded in the UK and has a strong presence among UK and European media, broadcasting, and retail organizations. WPP acquired InfoSum in April 2025, and the platform continues to work with partners outside WPP.
What is Decentriq?
Decentriq is a Swiss-headquartered data clean room provider built on confidential computing. Advertisers, publishers, and other organizations collaborate on first-party data inside a hardware enclave, where the data is never exposed to partners or to Decentriq.
Key features
- Remote attestation, so every party can check which code runs in the enclave before submitting data
- Measurement inside the enclave, including conversion and sales lift and incremental reach, plus template-based cross-media reach and frequency that needs no custom queries
- Measurement run by an operator with no stake in the outcome being measured
- Audience targeting and activation, including lookalike audiences and ID graph onboarding, plus remarketing and exclusion targeting, with no proprietary identity graph
- No-code and SQL interfaces
Common use case
An advertiser matches its conversion data against a media platform's exposure data inside the clean room to measure incremental reach or conversion lift. Neither side hands over raw records, and both receive the same result.
Background
Decentriq was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Zurich. It is independently owned, with a global partner network that is particularly strong in the DACH region.
How do Decentriq and InfoSum compare?
The two platforms differ most in where collaboration happens and what protects the data there.
In both models, no party receives another party's data. InfoSum matches records across separate Bunkers or Beacons, and in a Bunker a sketch derived from one party's identifiers is transferred into the partner's Bunker to be tested against the partner's data. In a Decentriq data clean room, each party's data rests in its own Private Dataset Portal and meets the other dataset only inside a hardware enclave that no party can access, including Decentriq.
What does non-movement mean?
InfoSum uses the term non-movement of data for its architecture. In its published description, each party's data is held in its own environment and records are matched across environments without being pooled. The same holds in a Decentriq data clean room, where no partner ever receives or sees another party's data.
Most clean room setups still place a copy of the data somewhere outside the owner's own systems. In a Bunker, the data owner uploads a copy into a private cloud instance hosted by InfoSum, and matching involves a transfer as well: a sketch derived from one party's identifiers moves into the partner's Bunker. A Beacon is the one InfoSum setup where data stays in the owner's own environment. In Decentriq, each party's encrypted data rests in its own Private Dataset Portal and meets the other dataset only inside the enclave.
Every data clean room places data somewhere before collaboration starts. Limiting movement is one way to keep data secure. However, the more useful test is what protects the data wherever it is held.
In a Decentriq data clean room, data is encrypted and collaboration takes place inside a hardware enclave, where the data is never exposed to partners or to Decentriq. Through remote attestation, each party can check which code runs in the enclave before it submits any data. Only the agreed aggregate results leave the enclave.
Four questions apply to any clean room, whichever architecture it uses:
- Where does each party's data go before collaboration starts?
- Who can access that environment, including the vendor and the cloud provider?
- Can the provider prove which code runs and that its own operators are excluded from the processing environment?
- What leaves the environment once the analysis is done?
Which InfoSum alternatives do buyers consider in 2026?
Buyers who shortlist InfoSum usually compare it with providers from three groups: independent clean rooms, cloud-native clean rooms, and identity-led platforms. Decentriq belongs to the first group.
A fuller breakdown of the alternatives can be found in Decentriq's data clean room comparison.
Why does independent ownership matter in a data clean room?
A data clean room brings together first-party data from parties that often compete, so every participant relies on the operator to treat all of them alike. Two of the best-known platforms now belong to agency holding companies. WPP acquired InfoSum in April 2025, and InfoSum continues to work with partners outside WPP. Publicis Groupe has agreed to acquire LiveRamp, with closing pending as of October 2026.
Buyers whose collaboration partners compete with an owner's agencies can weigh that relationship alongside the technical comparison.
Decentriq is independently owned and is not owned by an agency group or a media owner. It has no proprietary identity graph and works with the identity infrastructure a customer already uses.
How should buyers choose between InfoSum and its alternatives?
Four factors settle most evaluations:
- Privacy architecture. Regulated industries often need guarantees that each party can verify, which confidential computing is built to provide. Standard media use cases gain from it as well. Advertisers and publishers often compete for the same budgets, and a hardware enclave that none of them controls lets them run targeting and measurement together with protection each party can verify instead of taking on trust. That can also ease security and legal reviews.
- Infrastructure. Teams standardized on Snowflake or Databricks can start with those native products. That route often needs SQL or engineering support, so marketing teams may prefer an interface they can use out of the box (see point 4). Multi-cloud or cloud-agnostic teams can look at InfoSum and Decentriq.
- Independence. Ownership shapes whose commercial interests a platform serves. A clean room owned by an agency group shares a parent with agencies that may compete with a collaboration partner, which is worth weighing.
- Skills and interface. Some platforms offer either or both: no-code interfaces and ready-made measurement templates that let marketing teams work out of the box, and SQL for analysts who want deeper flexibility.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to InfoSum?
Decentriq is the leading independent alternative to InfoSum, built on confidential computing with hardware-backed verification. Other options include Optable for publisher-led audience collaboration, Snowflake Data Clean Rooms and Databricks Clean Rooms for teams already on those platforms, and LiveRamp for identity-led activation. The right choice depends on the privacy architecture required and the infrastructure already in place.
Is Decentriq an alternative to InfoSum?
Yes. Both are data clean rooms for collaboration between advertisers, publishers, retailers, and other organizations. They differ in architecture: Decentriq uses confidential computing with remote attestation, while InfoSum uses decentralized Bunkers and Beacons. Decentriq is also independently owned, and InfoSum is owned by WPP.
Is Decentriq only for regulated industries?
No. Decentriq data clean rooms serve advertisers, publishers, retailers, and agencies for audience targeting and measurement, as well as regulated industries such as healthcare and financial services. In both cases, collaboration takes place inside a hardware enclave, where data is never exposed to partners or to Decentriq.
Does Decentriq support media measurement?
Yes. Decentriq supports lift measurement and incremental reach, plus template-based cross-media reach and frequency, inside its data clean room. Analysis runs within the enclave, and the result connects to the media partners running the campaign. Decentriq is independently owned, so the operator has no stake in the outcome being measured.
What is the main difference between Decentriq and InfoSum?
The main difference is where collaboration takes place and what protects the data there. In a Decentriq data clean room, data is encrypted and collaboration takes place inside a hardware enclave, where the data is never exposed to partners or to Decentriq. InfoSum keeps data in separate Bunkers or Beacons and matches records across them.
What are InfoSum Beacons?
Beacons are InfoSum's cloud-native apps for data collaboration, launched in November 2025. They deploy inside a customer's own cloud account, which keeps the data in the owner's environment, and the Google Cloud version uses Confidential Space.
Which is better for regulated industries?
Regulated buyers often need guarantees that every party can verify independently. Decentriq's remote attestation was designed for that requirement. InfoSum's Beacons also appeal to teams that prioritize keeping data in an environment under the data owner's control. The right choice depends on the compliance team's evidence requirements.
Does ownership matter when choosing a clean room?
Ownership shapes whose commercial interests a platform serves. WPP, an agency group, owns InfoSum, and Decentriq has no agency, media holding company, or ad-tech group affiliation.
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