New data privacy laws imposed by the European Union have meant that tech giants to startups have had to make changes to comply. Through the use of Profede’s protocol and it’s distributed ledgers, increased control, privacy and transparency for users can be achieved. Companies are looking to alternative technologies especially blockchain to analyse and evaluate data in a shift to new technology in order to comply with rules, also to greater protect user data in the future.

Of course this doesn’t come challenge free, as companies must ensure compliance with GDPR such as protocols like Profede that aim to disrupt the entire professional industry by providing a secure and transparent manner of sharing information by having users decide with whom they are willing to share their information, which parts of their information they are willing to share and for what price they are willing to share the information. In a market where data giants are making billions off of user data, Profede aims to bring the control and power back to users, as they should be the ones to decide where their data is going as they are the real data creators and should be empowered.

What is the GDPR?

The GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation. It is an EU regulation that protects users online data and privacy within the European Union and European Economic Area as well as when companies export data outside of the EU. Through this regulation the public can feel more protect knowing that their data is protected and companies all must do business whilst complying with this rule. Businesses must comply with how data can be used and if they do otherwise they could receive a fine.

With so much business being conducted online and a large majority of our daily life online, it is no wonder that online regulation has had to step up with the times. As we wake up to pick up our phone and put our phone down just before bed, we are a connected generation. From doing our banking online, to shopping, working and more, with a large part of our life being spent online, it is time to protect our data and privacy, and the governing bodies have enforced the protection for this reason.

How the new rules have affected businesses

In recent weeks many have received protection notifications and emails where they’ve had to agree with in regards to the new terms and conditions of the online service providers. While many companies have worked hard to comply with these regulations other sites are having to block users from the EU,

One such company removing its product from the EU is Stardust- a TV and movie app that gets you to record your reaction to watching a short video of a movie or TV show. Stardust was previously available for free download on iOS and Android, but has now been removed from Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

Another company that will no longer, for the moment at least, allow EU users from accessing their platform is Instapaper. Instapaper is Pinterest’s news-clipping service that allows you to save web pages and read them later.

Unroll.me is also pulling the plug on use in EU due to compliance issues. With various companies restricting access to Eu users, others pulling out, this is having a great effect on business operations in the EU zone for te companies that are not able to compy or willing to comply. There will be long term effects. While the GDPR regulation was proposed in 2012 with final signing occuring in 2015, companies have had sufficient time to make changes to comply with this regulation which begs the question of if online platforms really respect user privacy.

Such companies who’ve made positive and compliant steps to ensure user privacy are the likes of Apple, Facebook, Spotify among many others. One company to note for the extent to which they’ve gone to ensure data privacy to clients is Yahoo by creating new consent to policies form that let users choose the third-parties that they consent to sharing their data. Yahoo has done this in a step to serve personalised ads through what the website says to “understand your interests and personalise and measure ads.” Other such sites was Tumblr which had a similar consent to go through so users understood “how our partners use this data.”

Profede’s protocol is a solution for data transparency over personal data sharing

Blockchain technology makes transactions transparent in a way that users are in total control. Profede enables a higher level or privacy and security, which can mix well with being GDPR compliant. Data privacy is important and users should be able to make decisions over their own data.

Profede firmly believes that users should be in full control over creating their profile, updating their data at anytime from anywhere and restrict their personal information from being seen without the authorization and approval of the user themselves.

As data protection is important, the utmost transparency and clarity over user data is necessary. As Profede wants users to be compensated for their data and to add them to the profit equation over their data, as opposed to today’s online platforms making billions off of user data, users can not only rest assured that their data is protected and safe on Profede but they are the ones who authorize and approve of the data sharing requests they receive. Users should be the ones in charge over their own data, not others, which is why the GDPR is a step forward in the right direction.