The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which we called the biggest change to data privacy in more than 20 years, has come into law, and you’ve probably seen many companies scrambling to catch up, sending emails about their new data policy, asking you to read and sign their new terms and conditions, and making sure you understand how the new regulations will impact the way they use your data. At Varanida, we’ve been focused on data privacy from the start, and have designed our ecosystem to be fully GDPR compliant, so we’re excited to announce more details about one of the most important parts of our project when it comes to the protection and control of user data: The Data Wallet

What is Varanida’s Data Wallet?

Varanida’s Data Wallet allows users to take back control of their private data, and decide when and where they want to share that data. (Or decide to not share it at all!) Initially Varanida will have four levels of data privacy for users, giving you a choice about how you want to see ads from Varanida’s Network:

  • Level 0: Block all ads, and do not share any data
  • Level 1: Display ads that match your profile and interests, but do not share any data
  • Level 2: Display targeted ads, based on location and browsing data
  • Level 3: Display very specific ads, based on shared behavioral and personal data, such as browsing history, click history, conversion history, etc.

Through this system, users gain back control over their data, and can decide how their data is used, or decide not to share it at all. The user’s private key ensures that no one can access their data without their consent, and they can also change or revoke that consent at any time. For example, users will be able to select which brands or sites they want to be able to access their data, and for how long, and they can easily cut any relation with a brand or site at any time.

What do I get for sharing my data?

Because we know that your data is valuable, we have designed a reward system for each of these levels, allowing users to be fairly compensated for sharing their data and being exposed to ads. While users who opt-in to seeing ads will be rewarded with VAD tokens, the more data you decide to share with advertisers, in an encrypted and safe way, the better matched their ads can be to your interests, and the more reward you will receive.

The added bonus is on top of the standard VAD reward for exposure to an ad, which will be indexed against Varanida’s Real Time Bidding system.

Since the foundation of our project is to allow users to take control of their data, it’s important that we are protecting that data with the most secure system, so Varanida’s Data Store leverages server-side encryption using AES256 and ECDSA to make sure no one can access it without the user’s consent.

How does it work during the Airdrop phase?

During the Varanida Airdrop Phase, users are blocking ads, but are not yet seeing ads from Varanida advertisers, so we can’t reward them based on how much data they opt to share with advertisers. However, we still want to encourage users to take control of their data, so we have designed a system that will reward users for getting their data ready to share when that functionality is available. When users are setting up their profile, they have a choice about how much of their information they want to include, and they will receive higher rewards depending on the level of data that they have filled out.

During the Airdrop, you basically get more VAD tokens for blocking ads when your profile is completed.

The VAD bonus depends on your profile completion level:

  • Level 0: No bonus
  • Level 1: +12% VAD per ad blocked
  • Level 2: +24% VAD per ad blocked
  • Level 3: +36% VAD per ad blocked

How do I complete my profile?

Click on the “Menu” icon in the top right corner of the extension
Click on the “Profile” button
Complete your profile level by level and save it.

Private data needs to be protected, and we believe that users should know when and how that data is being used, and have complete control over that process. We’re excited to announce the Varanida Data Wallet to the public, and hope that you will join us in our effort to build a better Internet.

Varanida is a decentralized, fair and transparent digital ecosystem where web-users, advertisers and publishers win.

Tags: , , , ,