The founders of Opiria, a European startup launched in 2017, claim that global trading volume of personal data has reached $250 bln. Historically, the users who generate the personal data have not been included in the selling and buying process, so the Opiria team created a marketplace to let these users receive profit from marketing their own personal data.

The personal data exposition

Opiria’s marketplace seems to be a functioning product; the team has already launched an app which is available on Android and iOS devices. The startup reports that there are approximately 4000 consumers and 50 companies already using the platform. According to the website, the marketplace is actively operating in several Asian countries, as well as in the United Kingdom.

The platform uses the Ethereum Blockchain for the secure and transparent buying and selling of personal data. The project teams states that the Opiria platform remains fully-compliant with the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) European standards on the acquisition and processing of personal data.

The product also enables consumers to create a passive income stream by monetizing their personal data. Companies can buy personal data directly from consumers using PDATA token - the internal currency used for rewards.

Seeping into a consumer’s head

According to the company’s crowdsale landing page, the app provides companies with a direct line to their consumers, allowing these companies to understand their consumers and to design their products and services based on consumer needs.

Opiria offers companies the opportunity to buy personal data directly from consumers, without middlemen and with consumers’ full consent. Today, Opiria is cooperating with “lots of Fortune 500 companies,” which, according to their website, include Mercedes, BMW, Audi and GM.

Moreover, consumer acquisition strategies include rewarding users with PDATA tokens for joining the platform, taking surveys, transmitting data from wearables, giving feedback from the usage of products and services, and much more . The exchange between users and companies is made through PDATA tokens. Opiria achieves all this the while providing full control and management of all personal data to the consumer, including full discretion regarding who is the owner of the data.

As Opiria’s Medium blog notes, researching all these parameters allows a company to increase its market share, improve its profit margins and raise public brand perceptions.

Opiria will start its pre-sale on April 10, 2018, which will last for only 10 days. The pre-sale will have a hidden cap. If the hidden cap is triggered, sales will stop and the main sale will begin in 24 hours. The reach of the hidden cap will be announced on the website, in the PDATA Telegram channel as well as on all other social media channels.

The private sale was launched earlier this year and raised $1.5 mln aiming to $2 mln, according to the company’s website.