Monetizing your personal data at your will

Gone are the days when minerals or crude oil were the most precious resource. With the event of technology evolution and expansion; Data is becoming the most precious resource of them all. In a market that is primarily driven by data, it is quite hard to control the accessibility of public as well as private and confidential data. Most data companies and advertisers thrive in the digital marketing environment with the data that acquired by either paying data companies or by unethical means such as collection of cookies and other user’s personal data without their consent. Though in recent times the data laws are becoming tight and well established, the downside to all this is that the users or audience whose data is collected and utilized does not enjoy any direct benefit from all this.

The information collected is extremely valuable to many companies, for lots of different reasons. If companies knew what people are searching for and understanding their desires can help MarTech firm to accurately target their advertising on just the right people with greater precision.

The content shared on Social media can be used to generate traffic to the site, bringing in more customers and in return boosting profits for the owners of the network. Each time people use social media, search engines, or allow companies to access their data in any way, they’re generating something highly useful and valuable.

The problem

Though user data is worth potentially billions of dollars, the users do not get to see any of that money, because they do not own their data. When a user posts on social media, that content would be owned by the network. When they use a search engine, the information of the search is now owned by the service provider.

Each day naive internet users are providing billions of dollars’ worth of data to corporate and marketing companies for free. Companies use this totally free resource to make business decisions, sell it to marketing companies, and draw traffic onto their websites.

The recent controversy that has sent the tech world into frenzy is that of the infamous Facebook manipulation of the users with their data and the shocking confessions by Cambridge Analytica. This has lead to the social network’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, hauled in front of the US Congress and senators looking upon and demanding to know the extent of information Facebook collects from its users and ways in which the collected data is subsequently used for advertising.

The solution- Blockchain

Blockchain is what comes to mind when disruptive technology is brought up due to its usefulness in creating decentralized systems. The pinnacle of its success the Cryptocurrency, allowing the currency to exist outside of centralized platforms by storing data on an immutable ledger that is managed through consensus.

As the data is managed on a decentralized public ledger, it can be owned by the users. Unlike social media sites, there is no centralized entity with access to everything; the owners of the data could choose who can access it, and they can charge them for that privilege.

Currently, the big centralized entities like social media giants and search engines collect data from their users (search details, social media posts, browsing history) and sell it data companies with in-turn resells it to marketing companies who can use it to target and tailor ads accurately according to the user preferences.

A decentralized data monetization system would connect consumers directly with advertisers, making it possible for consumers to decide which data they would like to share in return for direct benefits, such as financial rewards. Ideally, consumers should be connected with advertisers in a decentralized manner so that no single third-party owns the shared data. With the evolution of decentralized platforms such as Ethereum, it’s now possible to create dApps which pays users for their data shared at their consent.

We are Scala Blockchain

With well over a decade of expertise in delivering quality products, solutions, service and consulting in the tech side of things, Scala Blockchain (www.scalablockchain.com) looks to tread new roads with the prominence of Blockchain technology being optimistically possible. As the horizon of blockchain in various aspects of technology being explored, it is only imminent that businesses would indeed adapt and move toward blockchain base in the foreseeable future.

Being a pioneer in a variety of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency solutions; Scala Blockchain provides innovative solution, consultation and services pertaining to

•  Blockchain solutions for FinTech, Supply chain, Shipping & Logistics, Manufacturing, Telecom, Energy, Digital Advertising, Data management
•  Cryptocurrency, token exchange and Wallet management
•  ICO creation, ICO integration, ICO launch, Remix IDE and ICO wizard
•  Blockchain platform support- Ethereum, Ripple, Hyperledger, EOS, NEO
•  Smart Contract development, Audit and Crowdsale
•  Blockchain social media/network consulting.