Credit: By Abhishek Pitti, CEO of Nucleus Vision
If you ask most people about bitcoin, they would describe it as a digital currency. However, those who understand its underlying blockchain technology know that it’s in fact a digital ledger of tamper-proof transactional data. This ledger isn’t owned by any one company or individual; instead, ownership is shared by every person who has ever made a transaction in bitcoin or any other kind of cryptocurrency.
This decentralized nature of blockchain makes it infinitely more secure than any existing government-regulated system. That’s especially critical in an age in which privacy has become an increasingly pressing issue. Today, giant Internet corporations monetize customer information through various forms of advertising solely for their own benefit and have maintained exclusive control over this data. Blockchain-based protocols shift the power of controlling and monetizing personal data into the hands of the customers themselves, empowering them like never before.
Blockchain offers a way for networks to securely obtain and share consumer preferences — for instance, letting your favorite stores know that you’re looking for deals on a pair of boots or that you’re in the market for a new TV — without compromising the personal information that you don’t want them to access, that too only upon your authorization. One way that blockchain is able to achieve this is through the use of private keys. Using private keys over blockchain, people can choose to authorize only select networks to obtain their personal data.
The use of smart contracts is another way that blockchain can safeguard customer privacy. Smart contracts are computer protocols that can facilitate, verify, and enforce specific terms of a contract by accessing external data feeds. This technology takes the place of an intermediary by ensuring that participating parties adhere to the laws of the transaction through the use of smart contracts. In terms of retail, smart contracts ensure that everyone plays by the same rules, preventing the possibility of malpractice.
The brick-and-mortar retail industry is one that can see significant benefits from the adoption of blockchain. In fact, blockchain could facilitate the creation of a system that would let brick-and-mortar retailers provide a personalized shopping experience to anyone who walks into their stores using data that the customers can willingly choose to share with retailers. Still, the thought that retailers might be able to access your personal information can seem a bit invasive. That sentiment is only heightened by recent critical hacks of customer information, such as the recent Equifax breach that compromised the personal data of more than 143 million people.
However, with blockchain, potential customers can control exactly who is able to see their data, and even potentially monetize it when coupled with a cryptocurrency-based economy. A blockchain-based system could notify customers when a retailer would like to access to their consumer data, and can choose to approve or deny authorization to them. With the advent of blockchain, these heightened levels of data protection and customer awareness of its use have become a reality, and it will prove critical in ensuring that consumers are fully in control of the security and privacy of their own data.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
