The Datum network allows anyone to store structured data securely in a decentralized way on a smart contract blockchain. The DAT smart token enables optional selling and buying of stored data while enforcing data usage rules as set by the data owner.
Every day we create 2.5 Quintillion bytes of data, and 90% of the world’s data today has been created in the last 2 years alone. Data stored grows 4x faster than the world economy and contributes to a substantial shift in economic power and source of economic value.
A lot of this data is created by individuals or organizations; browsing the internet, interacting on social networks, uploading personal files, syncing devices and shopping online. This data is owned and stored by large private organizations in huge data silos where it is susceptible to selling, tampering, extraction and other exploitation. The originator of the data mostly loses control over its data when signing up to various services such as Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snap, Twitter etc., that offer ‘free’ services in exchange for exploitation of data, e.g. Google’s Gmail service reading emails and showing targeted ads as a result.
Datum proposes a network run on a secure smart contract blockchain that allows all of its users to retake control of their data, not just the personal and habitual data they produce every day, but also data from the (IoT) devices that they control.
Datum encompasses the following key elements:
A fast decentralized data store allowing users to store structured data securely running on a smart contract blockchain.
The DAT token enabling this data storage and sharing
The data marketplace, enabling individuals to monetize their data on their terms Datum leverages BigchainDB and IPFS to provide an infinitely scalable, decentralized data storage backend.
Data storage and data sharing is paid for by the DAT token.
The Datum network will consist out of 3 Billion DAT tokens, with 1.53 billion DAT tokens available in a public token crowdsale.
The Datum network aims to provide entities such as researchers, companies or individuals the most efficient and frictionless access to data while respecting the data owner’s terms and conditions. By becoming a dominant data marketplace, Datum aims to revolutionize the existing data market where data creators are rarely paid for the data and the monetization happens by middle men who do not add any value.
The Datum network will support initiatives that aim to increase control of data by their sources (e.g. individuals). We aim to work towards a future where data is first and foremost owned by their creator (e.g. an individual posting an image) and where the creator can choose to share, monetize or destroy this data based on their own purview.
This is in stark contrast with current data silos which collect vast amounts of humanities data under restrictive licensing terms, e.g. an individual giving up most rights to their image when posting it on Instagram. We feel that legislation in many regions is being worked on towards giving back more control of user data to the users themselves and feel the Datum network is an important facilitator and technical solution for such a future.
The Datum network aims to disrupt current data broker model by giving more direct and better value access to users data. This in turn empowers users by regaining control of how their data gets used and shared. Users are incentivized to use the Datum network for data storage not only by privacy but also by monetization incentives. The more users using the Datum network the more powerful the momentum becomes, eventually users are able to insist that data is stored and handled through the Datum network.
Datum can be thought of as a decentralized version of Apple’s HealthKit, but for any type of data instead of just healthcare data. HealthKit has led to a massive opening of data by participating apps, however it is stored with a centralized entity, Apple Inc., and is only available within Apple’s ecosystem. We expect to see the same rapid adoption effect with the Datum network once it gains critical momentum. Datum network is being built to enable the input of multiple types of data, and allow user control of the said data types.
Datum
