Though today there are too many talks about data privacy, especially in Europe and the U.S., major companies have developed an absolutely new solution that may even surprise you. Why not to let people control their own information and to sell it if they wish?
In the framework of Consensus conference in New York, such well-known companies as Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Nokia have announced their decision to combine their efforts to implement this new approach to data privacy.
In collaboration with a Swiss startup called Streamr, the companies are planning to let consumers put their data, that is gathered by their Internet-connected devices, on the blockchain with a view to earn money by selling it a wide range of organizations. These entities may include governmental structures, advertisers or social organizations and associations.
According to the plans of Streamr, the data will be monetized (or it is better to say “tokenized’) in the form of a cryptocurrency called DATAcoin. Last year, this Swiss startup raised $30 million in its initial coin offering.
HPE, for example, has already built a prototype that allows to collect data from a car and to store it on a blockchain. Car owners will have an opportunity to sell their data to those organizations that may be interested in using it, like energy companies that taking in consideration data about fuel levels have an opportunity to determine fuel demand.
Moreover, windshield wiper activity data can be useful for developing weather warnings. Data on traffic may be interesting for local government administrators. Some data may be also used for automobile insurance companies that may use it for defining driver risks.
HPE’s worldwide director for blockchain Raphael Davison commented this project the following way: “The data that’s stored in your car is extremely valuable and right now us drivers just give it away. This kind of technology with blockchain allows you to have control over it, and therefore you control it, you can monetize it.”
This prototype has been already installed in an Audi Q2, but it is possible to use it in any car. Such a way to collect and to use data might also be useful for creating smart cities.
Davison used a term “blockchain 3.0.” to describe the project. Blockchain 3.0 will get ahead of blockchain 2.0 and will exclude middlemen and connect consumers directly to organizations that are interested in receiving the consumers’ data.
At the same time, Nokia is cooperating with Streamr for putting data received from its industrial Wi-Fi hot spots on the blockchain. These mobile stations are installed in places with low signal, for example, farms where sensors are needed to control irrigation and create weather predictions. Farmers might be interested in sharing this data and getting profit.
Streamr has also announced its partnership with OSIsoft. This company provides data and analytics software used for tracking data in industrial operations. It is believed that clients of OSIsoft may want to share their data with each other and to earn. And DATAcoin may become rather popular among them.
At press time, according to CoinMarketCap, DATAcoin traded at $0.11, which means that its price has dropped rather significantly since the beginning of the year, when it was traded at $0.30.
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