Data443 Risk Mitigation Inc (ATDS)

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Blockchain Reigns Supreme for Data Integrity and Data Sovereignty

"For many different industries, consumer information in the form of medical research, location-based services, business transactions and financial information are becoming a liability, with many of the regulatory bodies passing sweeping laws to protect people from incessant digital tracking. Consumer information gives few “data brokers” control over user generated content, yet the data brokers are the only ones monetizing that very data. The data gives companies insight into the type of person, their behaviors, giving these companies more predictable conversions to sales. However, users are understandably becoming more concerned and skeptical of how their data is being used and rightly so.

With many of the global compliance regulations, like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the CA Consumer Data Privacy Act of 2018, data has gone from being a real liability to impacting the bottom line. Businesses across industries such as Medical/BioTech, Advertising and Supply Chain are all concerned about spending additional funds in order to comply with the different regulatory agencies and the fines and enforcement on the rise.

European companies are expected to spend an average of $1.4 million to comply with GDPR, and U.S.-based companies are setting aside anywhere between $1 million to $10 million each for this compliance, according to Gartner’s newly released tech trends. Facebook, Yahoo and Equifax are being fined large amounts $1.5 billion, $100+ million and $80 million, respectively, if they don’t comply with the EU’s GDPR.

Distributed Ledger Technology, or blockchain, inherently provides secure, transparent and scalable environments for storing immutable transactions and consumer information. We at Dispatch believe that anonymizing consumer information not only preserves but improves the ability for companies across many industries to store and access sensitive consumer information, creating a mutually beneficial community between users and companies using, managing and accessing data.

Here are a few examples where blockchain technologies can impact specific verticals, keeping in mind that many industries across the spectrum stand to benefit from adopting blockchain technology.

Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

- The medical industry could benefit immensely from a transition to DLTs. Sensitivity around processing and storing research and patient data has always been an issue, but now, information can be securely stored off-chain where medical records can immutably be stored and tracked within the ledger. And patient data can be safely stored and managed within the ledger.

- Supply Chain: For example, companies such as Walmart are requiring their food suppliers to adopt blockchain technology by September of 2019 to improve traceability and food-safety. Immutable records going back to the grower gives everybody along the supply chain an instantaneous snapshot to track contaminated produce and goods, dramatically lowering liability and reducing time to resolution.

- Advertising: The AdTech industry is projected to hit $335 billion annually by 2020 with billions of users creating content for more targeted marketing. Yet, increasingly, end users are reluctant to share their information because “data brokers” were not transparent about how the information was being used. Distributed Ledger Technology provides transparency of how user information is being used and Zero-Knowledge Analytics anonymizes and protects data, removing the liability for AdTech firms using the information."

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https://blocktribune.com/blockchain-reigns-supreme-for-data-integrity-and-data-sovereignty/

THE WIRED GUIDE TO DATA BREACHES

"ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER massive new corporate security breach that exposes your personal data. Names, email addresses, passwords, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, credit card numbers, banking data, passport numbers, phone numbers, home addresses, driver’s license numbers, medical records—they all get swept up by shadowy, amorphous hackers for fraud, identity theft, and worse. Sometimes the affected company will send you an email suggesting that you change a password or credit card number, but for the most part, these incidents are invisible—until they aren’t.

Think of data breaches as coming in two flavors: breaches of institutions that people choose to entrust with their data—like retailers and banks—and breaches of entities that acquired user data secondarily—like credit bureaus and marketing firms. Unfortunately, you can’t keep your information perfectly safe: It is often impossible to avoid sharing data, especially with organizations like governments and health insurers. Furthermore, in cases where a company or institution gives your information to an additional party, you’ve often agreed to sharing more data than you realize by clicking "I accept" on a dense user agreement.

Many of these incidents don’t necessarily even involve hackers. Data “exposures” occur when information that should have been locked down was accessible, but it’s unclear if anyone actually stole it.

Even after a data breach has occurred, though, and an unauthorized actor definitely has your data, you won’t necessarily see an immediate negative impact. Hackers who steal a trove of login credentials, for example, may quietly use them for under-the-radar crime sprees instead of selling or publishing the data. As a result, the repercussions of a breach can be very delayed, sometimes not fully manifesting for years.

Attackers tend to capitalize on certain types of data right away, namely financial information like credit card numbers. But some troves of data disappear into the ether, becoming a sort of ticking time bomb. Yet victims of identity theft know the consequences of data breaches intimately and painfully. They may have their credit wrecked by thieves, lose all their money, or be dogged for years by a shadow hand meddling in their affairs and opening digital accounts in their name.

The problem is so abstract and far-reaching that you would be forgiven for feeling that it’s not worth grappling with at all. Unfortunately for victims, there is no such thing as perfect security, and no way to eliminate absolutely all data breaches. But massive institutional breaches don’t need to happen as often as they do. Many occur not because of complex and sophisticated hacking but because organizations have made basic and potentially avoidable mistakes in implementing their security schemes. They’re low-hanging fruit for hackers to pluck."

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https://www.wired.com/story/wired-guide-to-data-breaches/

As the first fines fly, it’s time to rethink trust in a new, GDPR-era of data privacy

"Six months have passed since GDPR was brought in to effect, but privacy remains at the forefront of the technology conversation. Take the Starwood Hotels and Resorts data breach, which may ultimately make brand owner Marriott the world’s first significant fine under GDPR.

In light of such events, a special study in the UK and U.S. set out to gauge how internet users in the UK and U.S. perceive their online footprint and current consumer sentiment towards the modern data privacy landscape.

The study found that the last 12 months have had a profound impact on their perceptions with 72% in these markets stating they’re more aware of how companies collect and use their personal data than they were 12 months ago.

To not only retain customers’ trust, but also fundamentally remain competitive, companies need to take heed of new GDPR privacy rules and implement changes to data collection that are beneficial for everyone.

Trust fundamental to competing effectively
The majority of consumers in the UK and U.S. (64%) do believe sharing personal data online can be beneficial to them, and almost 2 in 3 recognize sharing personal data online is a necessary part of the modern digital landscape.

When asked what would most motivate them to share their personal data with companies online, having trust in a company (53%) and having the ability to access and delete the data (46%) were the most important factors for consumers across all of the demographic breaks. But as many still don’t feel in control of their data online, companies that don’t demonstrate respect for personal information will soon lose credibility and stand out from those that do.

The GDPR mobilised companies all around the world need to be upfront with consumers, and allow them more control over which data they share. Trust is at the heart of online brand-consumer relationships.

To build these consumer relationships, trust has become an absolutely fundamental part of any brand proposition – it is now not only a major commodity for companies, but also a central component in their ability to compete.

Mapping the data-driven trust deficit
When asked to rate different online industries by their level of trust, online retailers enjoy an extremely positive reputation among internet users in the U.S. and UK. 60% of consumers trust online retail services with handling their personal data. This is the only sector in our chart in which the highest consumer trust rating outscores all other ratings.

Music and video streaming services also enjoy a strong trust reputation among these internet users. And, despite the apparent disillusionment with the online advertising industry manifested in the ad-blocking trend and recent cases of tech companies scanning emails to inform ad targeting, search engines and email services also have positive reputations.

Compared to the other industries in our chart, consumers are most likely to say that they don’t trust a social media service with their personal information, at 1 in 3. That said, another 1 in 3 do trust a social media service with their data, with the strong majority saying they’re undecided. So while this industry may be fighting back to recover its credibility and reputation, it seems consumer opinion is largely open to improvements.

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https://www.techradar.com/news/as-the-first-fines-fly-its-time-to-rethink-trust-in-a-new-gdpr-era-of-data-privacy