In a world where data is constantly being exchanged, how can we protect our privacy? Our personal information is extremely succulent for countless companies and people with bad intentions. They have interest in where we live, what we buy, what school we take our children to, what series we watch and, of course, the access to our bank account. Encrypting all this private information, as it is done with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and financial transactions, is essential so that nobody steals our personal identity.
But, how can we achieve this? With blockchain: an extremely secure way of storing and transmitting data on the network, based on an encryption system that prevents data from being altered. It works without intermediaries and therefore it is especially useful in certain sectors, such as financial, insurance, energy, telecommunications, health, justice or public administration.
Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalonia’s government), for example, has already done some tests with this technology. The Catalan government has invested three million euros to apply blockchain over the next three years, in areas such as health, waste management – to reward those citizens who recycle more– and even the creation of a digital identity that will allow us to get accredited on the Internet. In the future, in fact, blockchain could be used in electronic voting: it guarantees anonymity and, in addition, the vote cannot be manipulated.
Sending money safely
A practical example of the use of blockchain is economic transactions. Instead of sending money to a relative through the bank, we can avoid intermediaries and do it ourselves. This way, we control the whole process and nobody imposes conditions. Users finally have full control of the action, ergo the power over their data. It is the owner himself who keeps the encrypted information.
Controlling your identity
IOTSWC19 held a discussion about how we can control our identity through blockchain. You can check more information about the talk and the rest of this year’s congress here.