Personal Data Token (PDT) Ecosystem

The PDT ecosystem is tailor-made to utilize blockchain infrastructure.

As a data marketplace, we plan to use blockchain technology to help individuals:

  • Reclaim their personal data & digital ID
  • Protect personal data
  • Monetize personal data

Usage and utilization of personal data has been asymmetrically beneficial to centralized digital platforms, instead of (oftentimes at a cost to) consumers/users. To wit, Google and Facebook alone racked up a combined $150bn in 2017 revenues trafficking in consumer data, while the consumer was left with scant tangible gains from the trading of their data.

The creation of the Personal Data Token (PDT) and ecosystem is designed to address the asymmetric personal data power-structure and will use blockchain architecture to give consumers more control and ownership over their data.

The token itself isolates and atomizes personal data as the key underlying scarce resource backing the value of the overall PDT ecosystem.

Token Utility and Purpose

  1. As an access key to participate in the ecosystem. Data providers and requestors must acquire and hold tokens to participate in the marketplace.

Ecosystem Participants

PDT serves two key functions in the ecosystem:

  • Data Providers - Data providers, also known as ‘Users’, provide consent-based personal data to the ecosystem. They will be compensated with PDT for connecting specific data-sets via Datacoup apps and when they agree to enter into specific transactions with data requestors. Users can spend PDT on apps and other ecosystem services.

  • Data Requesters - In the PDT ecosystem, data requesters are comprised of:

    • Data Buyers (e.g.; Market researchers, hedge funds)
    • Data Partners (e.g.; Insurance companies, banks)
    • App Developers
    • Service Providers (e.g.; Attestation providers)

Requesters typically bring monetary value or a service to the ecosystem, in exchange for access to data.

  • Ecosystem Administrator - The administrator sets basic guidelines for transactions in the marketplace, provision of initial technologies and other administrative objectives. Datacoup will serve as the initial ecosystem administrator.

Ecosystem Data Transactions

Customer Relationship Value - Identity-linked data has ‘customer relationship value’. Data partners and service providers with pre-existing customer relationships may wish to offer discounts, premium access or other perks to their customers for sharing data through PDT ecosystem apps.

  • PDT - With minimum balance requirements and token-staking, PDT ownership is the only way to access and transact in the ecosystem.
  • App - Through Datacoup apps, providers connect their data, set preferences and agree to enter into specific transactions with data requestors.
  • API - The API serves as the endpoint for requesters in which they can receive programmatic outputs from privacy-preserving data computations.