Our Investment in TapMyData
When we invited TapMyData into our accelerator because we believed by their leveraging of SAR (Subject Access Request) to empower users to exercise their digital rights they were the thin end of the wedge to open up for data emancipation and this paradigm shift and were encouraged by the impressive user growth.
The Current State of Data Management
6 months on they have evolved their MVP (Minimal Viable Product) and shown far from becoming a thorn in the side, they increasingly work with responsible companies, charities and organisations to help them comply with increasingly aggressive state legislation like GDPR and remove the liability of data custody from balance sheets.
‘The Data Trade that powers Surveillance Capitalism is now facing an extinction level event turning data from an asset into a liability’
“DeFi” was undeniably the crypto buzzword for 2020 but increasingly there’s a growing spotlight growing around how the New Data Economy can leverage its infrastructure where data itself is the asset to be bought and sold in “Data Markets”.
DLT projects such as Streamr and Ocean Protocol are already on a mission to redefine data ownership and its commercialization processes by empowering owners of large data sets to make available, curate and sell data.
However they need data providers to bring supply into the market and in a consumer context unlock that value from users through intuitive applications without needing to understand how they even work.
With the largest set of access rights data in the world, still growing at a rapid pace, here’s where TAP fits in.
And this initial data set is just the beginning as they become a trusted interface for mainstream users to manage their data, and its exchange with everyone from their bank to their social media platform.
TapMyData’s Innovative Approach
TapMyData’s mantra; “Not everyone has crypto to stake, but we all have data” is as thought provoking as it is inspiring.
How do we include everyone into Web 3’s digital economy, even if they have no money to invest, well.. through their data!
“TAP’s mission is to give people control of their data and leverage collective agency in how it’s used, whether to share or get their piece of a market worth $325Bn annually.
This forms a critical pillar of the new trust economy that is replacing the data silos of The Old Web.
Shift Towards a New Data Economy
When you consider the data economy is $325Bn annually, and that end users are mostly excluded from its wealth creation, what TapMyData makes possible is the equivalent of a form of Universal Basic Income distributed to everyone that uses their app globally (at least everyone connected to the internet).
“The data broking sector is a complex ecosystem where information appears to be traded widely without consideration for transparency, giving millions of adults in the UK little or no choice or control over their personal data.” – Elizabeth Denham, UK Information Commissioner
It is an undeniable fact that industrial titans are collectively making tens of billions on an annual basis, after all ‘data is the new oil’, simply by reselling our personal information to third party companies utilizing a data-driven business model.
This isn’t in and of itself inherently wrong. Data drives the world and improves our lives but this is often without the knowledge of us the data producers, let alone with our consent and direct participation.
And this problem is amplified with increasing amounts of biometric data being added into the mix.
Regulation in Europe and increasingly around the world in places like California, Brazil and Asia already make it a legal requirement for companies to make data available on request.
Statistical Findings on Data Concerns
TapMyData have clearly and demonstrably shown people are concerned, they just don’t know how to start and when given the option they jump on it initially out of curiosity and then on increasing concern.
‘’Based on a survey with over 5,000 participants who have used TapMyData, we’ve quickly realized that when people are granted with the custody of their own data, not only they appreciate the organization that empowers that element, but they are also more likely to share that data with organizations they feel affiliated with, whether that’s a charity, a civil rights group etc.
More specifically, statistical analyses suggest that people are increasingly concerned about their data and online identities, with 78% believing businesses get the best value from data exchange, while 65% of the concerned party analogize that they have lost control of their personal data.
Strategic Importance of TapMyData
TapMyData is a solution that helps people reclaim their digital footprint through verified forms of consent on a publicly verifiable distributed ledger network, from where users get to decide who they share their data with and on what terms with simple or granular levels of permissioning.
This is important because a single user’s data is not in and of itself valuable.
It needs to be pooled and shared at scale so preserving permissioning and provenance in the mixing of data assets is a complex challenge that limits the ability for the value that can be unlocked from data markets like Ocean to trickle back to individual users in an accountable way.
TapMyData leverages the token standards of the likes of ERC-1155, and ERC-721, among other EIPs, that many of us refer to simply as NFTs.
So data owners are also eligible to give consent to trusted 3rd parties based on varying parameters such as time or form of use to directly control who gets to see that data and under which circumstances even once it is pooled.
Companies shouldn’t get to own user data.
Leadership and Vision
They could still access it for a prefixed period of time and for a price set by the actual owner. Analogizing the rapidly maturing data privacy regulations both in the EU and the UK, that actually benefits both sides of the same coin.” – Gilbert Hill, Co-founder and CEO of TapMyData
Quotes taken from the Founders of Web3 Podcast ep. 64 with Jamie Burke. To listen to the full podcast, and learn more about the new Open Data Economy visit:
https://outlierventures.io/podcasts/
User Engagement and Impact
TapMyData is a solution that helps you reclaim your digital identity, crystallize unique elements of consent on a publicly verifiable distributed ledger network, and get to consent to whom you’re sharing your data with.
They’re leveraging the popular non-fungible token standard (ERC-721), commonly known as NFT to empower everyone with being able to store, manage, distribute and monetize their personal information as expiring bundles of accessible data.
To learn more about the Open Data Economy and become an active gear in the TapMyData movement, visit their website, or reach out to CMO, Jelena Keatley directly at [email protected].
Conclusion
As we look forward, TapMyData stands as a beacon for responsible data handling, promising a future where digital rights are universally respected and the value of personal data is equitably shared among its rightful owners.
You can read the rest of “Why we invested in” collection here:
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