5 Top Questions About Data Ownership Answered by iExec #serie 1

As a developer in the Web3 space, you’re probably grappling with critical questions about data ownership: Who can access the data in my application? How is it being used? Can users reclaim control once it’s shared?

These questions are just as important as your tech stack. After all, answering them builds trust in your decentralized application (dApp) because data ownership matters now more than ever.

Web3’s promise is to put users in control of their personal information and data governance. This shift reshapes how developers must approach data security, privacy, and data ownership. To meet these demands, developers need tools that guarantee users retain full control over their data, even after sharing it.

This is where iExec comes in. iExec provides a suite of solutions to protect and secure data, allowing for permissioned access and ensuring that sensitive data remains encrypted and safe.

Your Top 5 Data Ownership Questions Answered

While Web3 offers greater autonomy, the challenge for developers is maintaining user control after data has been shared. This is especially complex when dealing with multiple decentralized platforms, each with different standards for data privacy, data ownership, and data governance.

Here are the top 5 data ownership questions developers frequently ask, along with how iExec’s tools address these issues:

What challenges do my users face regarding data ownership, and how can I help overcome them using iExec’s dev tools?

When it comes to data ownership, users face a number of key challenges. These often boil down to: security, control, and trust.

• Data Security: Once users share their data, unauthorized parties could exploit it or access it without consent. This lack of clear data governance makes users hesitant to engage with decentralized applications.
• Maintaining Control Post-Sharing: Users want to share their data with specific individuals or groups but need the flexibility to revoke access if necessary. Traditional systems often don’t provide such data governance mechanisms.
• Monetizing Data Safely: Users recognize that their data has value but often don’t know how to safely monetize it without losing control.

To solve these challenges, developers can turn to iExec’s suite of tools, which provide flexible encryption and smart contract integration. While traditional measures protect data at rest and in transit, iExec goes further by securing data during active processing, which is when it’s most vulnerable.

Using Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and confidential computing, iExec keeps sensitive data encrypted, so only authorized parties can access it. This maintains full user control over how data is used.

At the heart of iExec’s solution is iExec DataProtector, which provides robust encryption for both data storage and data sharing. Users can encrypt files before sharing them on decentralized platforms, ensuring the confidentiality of their sensitive personal data.

With smart contracts, developers can create systems where users retain control over their data processing activities while also earning revenue from their data.

DataProtector Sharing gives users even more control, letting them decide who can access their data, for how long, and whether to revoke that access.

How can I provide my dApp users with full data ownership control, while allowing for secure sharing?

iExec’s on-chain data tokenization system gives dApp users full control over their data while securely sharing it. However, some challenges still exist, which is why users still lack full ownership control in Web3.

By tokenizing data, users transform their information into a digital asset, retaining ownership throughout the sharing process.

Developers can tokenize sensitive personal data and create tradable tokens with specific access rules embedded in the blockchain. This means users can grant or revoke access whenever needed, maintaining total control over their data.

For example, in a healthcare app, patients can share medical records with doctors while retaining revoking access after the data is no longer needed. Content creators can similarly tokenize their intellectual property and license it to third parties. This allows users to profit from their data while retaining full ownership and data governance.

How can Web3 users monetize their personal data without sacrificing ownership or privacy?

iExec’s privacy-enhancing tools give Web3 users the ability to monetize their personal data while keeping ownership and privacy intact.

A great example is iExec Privacy Pass. It lets users take part in targeted marketing campaigns. Users can earn rewards in iExec RLC tokens. Best of all, they can keep their personal information private.

Users are identified only through their Ethereum wallets, so marketers get the insights they need without ever accessing sensitive data.

Through iExec’s confidential computing solutions, data processing happens within SGX enclaves, ensuring that privacy remains protected. This setup allows Web3 users to monetize their sensitive personal data while retaining full control over how that data is processed and used.

How does iExec's decentralized infrastructure enable secure and permissioned access to encrypted datasets for third-party applications?

iExec secures encrypted datasets through blockchain-based mechanisms. These contracts specify the access terms defined  in the Protocol PoCo (Proof of Contribution) and dataset order, such as who can access the data and for how long. This allows third-party applications to interact with sensitive data without ever accessing the raw information.

All data is processed within TEEs, where the data remains encrypted. Third-party applications never gain access to the raw data, and all interactions are governed by the permissioned access rules set by the provider. 

This combination of blockchain and TEEs ensures that sensitive data is always protected.

How does iExec handle the challenge of securely processing sensitive data between trusted environments like SGX enclaves and Web3 applications?

iExec handles the secure processing of sensitive data through a combination of the off-chain part with confidential computing and the on-chain part with the PoCo (Proof of Contribution), our core smart contract.

The process begins with orders signed by users through their Ethereum wallets, which define the intent for data access or processing. Once verified on-chain, a deal is created only if the PoCo smart contract confirms that the orders are valid, with payments or stakes locked in.

The secret sauce lies in iExec’s Secret Management Service, which operates within SGX enclaves and manages the decryption keys.

These keys are passed only to the application specified in the on-chain deal, ensuring data remains encrypted and only accessible to trusted applications running within secure environments.

Smart contracts govern data governance and access, while the middleware running in SGX enclaves enforces these rules. This guarantees that sensitive personal data is processed securely and according to the defined terms.

Data ownership is the cornerstone of Web3’s promise to users.

Data ownership is the foundation for building trust in Web3. Whether you’re helping users control, secure, or monetize their personal data, iExec has the tools to make it happen.

Solutions like DataProtector and Privacy Pass give users control over their data while ensuring security through TEEs and smart contracts. As a developer, you have the power to shape the future of Web3, and iExec is here to help.

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