Edinburgh Napier University

  Our world due to the technological progress became fast-paced and is constantly evolving, thus changing every single day. Consequently, the most valuable asset on earth is not gold or oil anymore but data. Big data companies try to take advantage of this situation and maximize their profits using people’s data. It is common to offer free of charge services to collect vast amounts of data that most of the times are considered personal and sensitive. On the other hand, their users, everyday and ordinary people without any technological background, take the opportunity to communicate with their friends and family freely and use their services without hesitation and second thoughts. But, if we take a step back and observe these free of charge services, the first concern that comes out of our mind is how all these companies are profitable since they offer a free product/platform/service. Most of the times, big data companies sell their users’ data to advertisers to offer personalized ads. There is an innovative technology that can securely store the aforementioned data but also enable its monetization to the actual producers of it, the people. This technology is the blockchain and its variants.