57% of People Feel It's Corporations Responsibility To Protect Personal Data

BERLIN - May 1, 2018 - PRLog -- We produce 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily. There are over 3.5 million Google searches per minute alone. The amounts of data being collected by companies & organizations on individuals is massive. These companies range from banks, marketing agencies, pharmaceuticals, to political consultancy firms. This data falls into several different categories: personal information, sensitive data, demographic data, court & public data, social media & technology data, financial data, health data, and this list goes on.

Where does the data go?
Most people do not even realize that when creating a profile on social networks, they not only provide an email, name, gender, but subsequently leave much more valuable and commercially beneficial information. Around half of adults surveyed (47%) are not acknowledged about how much information about themselves is available online. Similarly, almost three in five (57%) know "only a little" or "nothing at all" about their rights regarding the use of their personal data (according to ForgeRock`s report published in 2018).

Every day we use services of such companies as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Uber etc. What most of social media users don't know is that all these services are making money on personal information you provide. Users are sharing all their information on social media on a constant basis and, as a result, you grant these services with a possibility to collect all your data and sell it to advertising companies, insurance companies, credit and loan organizations, financial services, healthcare etc. Personal data is a highly valuable asset, but people don't receive anything for its provision. In Accenture`s survey of nearly 600 businesses around the world, 79 percent of respondents said their companies collect data directly from individuals (through online customer accounts, for example) as well as from commercial or data-sharing partnerships (42 percent).

A much greater risk is that this data can be used against users. This was the case with the recent Facebook breach and Cambridge Analytica, where millions of Americans were influenced by political advertising, which was based on their psychological portrait and other personal preferences. About half respondents (53%) worry about how much personal information they have shared online, and a similar proportion (51%) are uncomfortable with the amount of information social media platforms have about them (ForgeRock). There is also a danger of cyber attacks by hackers. In addition, hardly anyone would like to become a victim of a hacker who requires money for access to personal photos or videos. And there are many such examples.

Should we wait for someone to take care of the security of our data?
Even if new GDPR (enters into force on May 25) would take into account all aspects and risks of using the data online, there is no guarantee that all companies will comply with prescribed rules and adhere to these standards. According to ForgeRock's report 57% of  adults think that it is the company's responsibility to protect the data they have shared, while only 9% think that it is their own responsibility.Fortunately, the data security and storage sector is evolving rapidly... The major advancement in this sphere is the use of blockchain to  distribute the whole data array of one person to pieces and place on different servers. This method makes it impossible to access the data without the electronic key to authenticate the user.

Some of these services not only protect and store users data but also provide a function that allows users to earn money by selling their data.

What services can you trust?
New system for data processing and data exchange will solve problems of security, storage, and monetization of personal data. By utilizing blockchain solutions such platforms create a decentralized exchange that is independent from one authority or regulatory body. This would return control of data ownership to individuals. This new process would allow personal information to be bought and sold in specifically designed data marketplaces.

Creditor Data Platform, was created to make a revolution on data processing market. The platform aims to address major challenges such as poor data flow, underestimation of data value and data breaches. The underlying mechanism of data exchange allows all users of the Platform to receive their respective benefits. Data providers can have a reward for provision of their information and trace its movement, data buyers can use authentic information of target groups they need and run their business without losses caused by poor data, and finally data verifiers can receive a reward for data validation. Based on the blockchain technology, data circulation process is secure and decentralized. All data is processed in an encrypted form, validity of transactions is ensured by consensus mechanism and all users of platform contact with each other through peer-to-peer network.

Author: Viktor Ihnatiuk, Co-Founder and CEO of Creditor Data Platform https://creditor.ai/