Blockchain will help us regain control of your data

Data collection is currently so ubiquitous that we hardly notice it anymore. But practically every time we use an online service or app for anything, we agree to relinquish control of any data we happen to give away. Most people are now aware that big tech companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon are watching our every move to help improve their algorithms and keep us staring at our screens while charging advertisers a premium for all that attention. targeted.

From web browsers to fitness trackers, supermarket loyalty cards and online travel platforms: every move we make paints a picture of us that advertisers are willing to pay the most for. But as the stock prices of companies that recognize the value of this data continue their upward trajectory, most of us will never see any benefit from our willingness to share.

Blockchain instead offers the promise of bring us back in control of our data. However, the vast potential of blockchain-based solutions has taken some time to bear fruit. After the launch of Ethereum in 2015, many developers saw the potential and started building apps and platforms, some good, many bad. But six years later, we're starting to see once-fledgling designs starting to take off and gaining significant traction even among traditional users.

Photo credit - Tzido / depositphotos .com Bistroo is one such example, with the aim of addressing the growing appetite for home delivery of food. Leveraging the blockchain's peer-to-peer connectivity, Bistroo operates a platform that facilitates the relationship between restaurateurs and their customers. Restaurants can list their menus with full control over their prices and get paid directly from customers.

They pay significantly less commission than they would using a service like UberEats or Deliveroo, and perhaps the most importantly, they can offer users a unique strength as they can choose how to protect their data. Rather than a model where the customer agrees to collect their data in exchange for a service, with Bistroo, they can choose to keep their data private or earn cryptocurrency-based rewards in BIST tokens for choosing to share them. >
There are other examples of similar success stories from blockchain platforms focused on giving users control of their data. There is still a lot of room for improvement. But as blockchain-based data privacy solutions gain ground and further innovations emerge in the area of ​​decentralized self-sovereign identity, there is still hope that we can reclaim our privacy while allowing us to grow a healthy data economy.