Hint: Centralized databases aren’t the best place to store your personal information.

It seems like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…but we used to live in a world where “data” was something only the nerdiest among us thought about. Scientific data. Financial data. Statistical data. Somewhere along the line, however, “data” became nearly interchangeable with “information.” Over the past two decades, much — if not most — of our information has migrated online. In fact, much of it these days begins there. Now, nearly everything we do or say is a data point. Searchable. Indexable. Marketable. Stored and mined by private corporations and public organizations for their use, not ours. Monetized for shareholders, not us the creators.

Big data. Big problem.

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Obviously, we all make concessions about how our data is used. We blithely hit the Accept button on most of the lengthy usage agreements for online services, apps, what have you. In most cases, convenience wins over concern. But by acquiescing to the status quo, we’re opening ourselves up to loss of control over our data and risk the security of that data being breached. Rather than being empowered by the digital revolution, we’re becoming increasingly powerless in our ability to keep what’s inherently ours. The numbers are staggering:

But if the hit that businesses take when data security is breached hasn’t been a crippling deterrent so far, the recent news regarding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica may change that. But centralized silos of information are still the primary business model, and that information is often sold without our knowledge. Marketers and retailers slice and dice the data, performing acrobatic analytics to serve up contextual commerce that feels good to consumers. At least until an overly intrusive ad or “you might like” suggestion pulls back the curtain on just how often and precisely your data is being crunched. The uncanny valley of personalization feels more like the abyss.

Here we go again. Or not.

So with our personal online data growing exponentially, and data breaches growing right alongside, the natural reaction is qualified resignation. What can we do, right? Hit by credit card fraud? Well, they didn’t make us pay for the charges. Identity theft? Sure, it was a pain, but we were able to get new documents. Just the cost of doing business online.

But it isn’t. It doesn’t have to be this way. You wouldn’t write down your credit card details, your mother’s maiden name, and the name of your first dog and then go around to the local shop and say, “Can you keep this in the till? I might come and shop here next Wednesday.” And yet that’s the model we’re using everywhere on the Internet. And that’s where Nuggets is different. The blockchain offers zero knowledge storage. There’s only one key holder for the data: you. The encryption that is inherent with the blockchain offers security that centralized silos of data can’t. The immutable ledger and fundamental decentralization — these are the keys to giving ownership and control of your data back to you.

I’ve written before about the way Nuggets is going to change e-commerce, and data ownership is a key component. We’re excited about the future — a breach-free future where you decide what to do with those quintillions of bytes you create every day. It’s your data. Own it.

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Until next time…