With the advent of the internet DATA is one of the most lucrative assets in human history. Companies like Alphabet and Amazon have built there fortunes on the analysis of data. Facebook being amongst these companies is arguably the biggest most influential advertiser that has ever existed. However as the internet grew and data began to be collected in mass quantities, the average person has never had an ability to claim, manage, and monetize their personal digital foot print. Families, circles of friends and acquaintance’s combine to create bubbles of data to be harvested and aggregated into neatly filed categories bagged and tagged for wholesale to marketers and businesses.
The exploitation of a persons online habits has made millionaires while a captive audience has been bombarded with non stop adverts. In some cases data-breaches have opened up people to data theft and lost of overall confidence in the aforementioned companies.
For decades the digital divide between we the consumer and digital providers has grown so large that re-claiming ones own personal meta-data is not possible. Any social App used, privacy policy agreed to, terms of service signed, has given digital service providers rights to humanities data. I know, this sounds ominous as heck, but I stand by my claim. The good news is My review on Algebraix is an attempt to highlight what may be the dawn of new technologies based on “Blockchain” and how a team of people are creating a tool with the capability to empower the masses to legally reclaim rights to their personal 1’s and 0’s bit by bit as they stream from their connected devices.
A new digital age is coming about where an individual has for the first time an ability to maintain a level of control over personal data that hasn’t been offered in the past. At a time when privacy concerns are becoming a major issue all over the globe.
The reality is the system has been built, and there is not much the average person can do about it. Except to choose to either be a cog in the wheel or not... Choosing not to participate, means cutting off all interactions on social platforms. However attempting to just use the internet for the simplest of tasks, still means you are actively being monitored and your digital profile is refined web page by web page.
I personally have developed a love hate relationship with apps like Facebook, in that I know that I am being monitored and my data is contributing to FB’s bottom-line. This irks me, however I have become complacent with this fact, due to the value I get from using the platform. I personally consider it a form of digital extortion…
Enter Algebraix
Their mission: “Algebraix will enable individuals to own and monetize their personal data. The company’s secure, permission-based media platform will be enabled by blockchain and the new ALX cryptocurrency. Empowering individuals with control of their personal data and putting revenue where it belongs: into the wallets of consumers.”
How: People who want specific products or services will be able to subscribe to relevant published information and may choose to enter into a sales dialogue once they have reviewed the “ads.” As part of the process they will be rewarded in ALX coin in line with the agreed smart contract.
End goal: Algebraix is rebuilding trust between advertisers and consumers. Advertisers gain superior ROI and can forge relationships directly with their customers.
The idea of “trust” has been blurred when dealing with businesses based on data collection, Algebraix aim’s to re-establish a new trust line by offering a gateway that is based on a “Smart contract” schema between the content consumer and content provider.
“The rewards to the data owner can be viewed either as payment for attention (ALX token) or as promotional discounts offered for a product or service, or a combination of the two.”
Trust will be established on both ends, with the data owner (you) being given a score based on your browsing habits and personal data that is willingly stored on the platform. This score is how advertisers will see potential customers, or maybe its more appropriate to say a score will be how advertisers will be able to target their promotions to maximize their potential sales.
Personal data will be anonymized, but the score will allow specific targeting based on your habits. So the way I see it, nothing truly changes from the current state of data collection and companies capitalizing on it, except now you get paid for your attention and interests with the added peace of mind knowing that xyz company doesn’t know anything more about you other than user 123 has a reputation score which meets the target range for the sale of product abc. In another refreshing addition advertisers will be given a Score too!
According to the whitepaper:
“Advertisers will be accorded a reputation score by data owners in two ways. Data owners will be able to report advertisers that indulge in misleading advertising or deceptive practices and such reports will be provided as feedback to advertisers and may be published to all data We will encourage advertisers to provide potential buyers with promotion specific (encoded) vouchers that entitle the buyer to rewards/discounts as they move through each step of the sales process. By doing this we will be able to analyze not only advertising responses, but also sales cycle behavior, “from ad to purchase.” owners depending on the circumstance. However, we will also be able to report analytically on data owner ad viewing behavior, providing advertisers with some indication of the reasons why data owners chose not to view ads. “
The Algebraix Platform will allow a person to store only as much data which the user is willing to provide. So at first I can save my profile data such as Gender, age, race, zipcode. Certain advertisers would be able to target me with limited advertising as a result. However if I trust the platform enough with more of my personal data, I can add more detailed information. Basically whatever info that can be collected digitally. The way I see it the very same type of detailed data that has likely already been collected, since the day I first logged into the world wide web and filled out surveys, updated various profiles, surfed for content or joined certain groups.
Sharing my valued information with my Algebraix profile increases my reputation score, in a way incentivizing me to share my data in return for more opportunity to earn ALX currency. This will generate more competition for my attention. I can then choose to view the advertising I want, and get paid for it.
In phase 1 of the Algebraix project, Media and entertainment will be the big ticket item to grow a user base. I will go into more detail on my experience using the Platform in its current Beta phase shortly. But why would I want a platform that is just based on advertising..? If I have given you the impression that the app is a series of adverts, I haven’t done the Algebraix project team any service. The truth is, I actually like using the beta platform rather than going to youtube, facebook and the like. This to me is the key point that ANYONE will likely ask themselves when deciding if they would want to switch from their favorite platform to Algebraix.
My experience using the app has been enjoyable. It is youtube without the filler ads, commercial interruptions etc. This used to be a thing right? It feels like a personal media player. I have access to videos, music, short documentaries. The interface is seamless, linking directly to the originating website. Each time I get to choose what to watch, and get ALX for doing so. With the added ability to share the content to other platforms, which earns me a bit more ALX.
See how this is all coming together? My private data drives the content (which should average out to be what I am already interested in) and I earn currency for consuming this content which I otherwise would be consuming elsewhere for free. Except that elsewhere means I don’t know who has my data and what they know about me.
The current beta version is a hodge-podge of movie trailers, videos, and music. Some of which I personally wouldn’t choose to consume. Of course its only there currently for me to beta test the app, helping the team get the platform ready for prime time upon its release.
The following are excerpts sourced from the available information provided by the project, along with images of the wallet.
The Wallet Homepage and Balance view
The Algebraix Platform and the Personal Secure Vault (PSV) is the user facing component of the Algebraix Platform. It is a mobile phone application that provides access to the services of the Algebraix network Digital wallet.
The mobile app will also be a digital wallet, for storing ALX tokens earned (or bought) and for paying for any services the network provides. It will include wallets for other cryptocurrencies and it will have a secure messaging application built in so that users will be able to send each other direct payments in cryptocurrency as well as secure messages.
A personal secure data store
The mobile app will store encrypted personal data locally, using the Algebraix network for back-up and if necessary for overflow storage. Initially, we expect individuals to store their basic identity profile data. Eventually they may choose to store some, if not all, of the data we previously described. End-to-end encryption will ensure that data is accessible only to its owner through using a private key. The owner will have the ability to grant access to this information to others (individuals or organizations) through purpose-designed smart contract permissions, which they alone will be able to set and manage.
Video Ad Browsing view
The mobile app will enable the user to browse through and view ads. It will be designed to create a compelling user experience, making the application easy to understand and use when selecting and responding to ads and promotions, and
also when uploading data, accessing data, trading from one cryptocurrency to another, and reviewing one’s activity.
Overall, I look forward to what the full featured version of the Algebraix platform will offer. The clean interface is perfectly suited for being on the move without much time needing to be spent searching for entertainment, being that it will strive to bring advertisers with the content I want. I like the idea of increasing the likelihood of content that I want to watch on my time, and my choosing. The incentive of taking back my data from the clutches of big business and making it work for me is very desirable.
The Algebraix platform and its future plans requires further research if you are interested. The whitepaper itself is over 35 pages and goes into much more detail on the algorithm and big picture of what the team hopes to accomplish.
Below you will find a wealth of detail to dive into.
Whitepaper: https://algebraix.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Algebraix_Blockchain_WPv1.12Feb16.pdf
Executive Summary: The Algebraix Platform: https://algebraix.io/wp-content/themes/algebraix/uploads/ExecSummary_v04.pdf
Algebraix Token Sale Economics: https://algebraix.io/wp-content/themes/algebraix/uploads/Coin_Economics.pdf
Unique ALX Technology: https://algebraix.io/wp-content/themes/algebraix/uploads/UniqueTechSummary_v02.pdf
About Algebraix Data
Blockchain technology is disrupting the commercial world. One part of that world, the part that Algebraix focuses on, is advertising. To that end, Algebraix is building a permission-based advertising platform which includes a Personal Secure Vault (PSV) as a basic component.
The PSV will empower individuals to store, secure, manage and monetize their personal data. Via the platform, advertisers will reward PSV owners for their voluntary attention—for viewing ads and promotions. PSV activity will be supported by a decentralized blockchain that manages all transactions, recording them in a ledger. Using anonymized data, the Algebraix platform will maintain a database that enables advertisers to identify legitimate target groups for their promotions. Targeted individuals will be presented with appropriate lists of advertisements, and if they so choose, will engage with the advertiser and be rewarded accordingly (in ALX coin, the network’s digital token).
Simply put, in the Algebraix network individuals own their own data and advertisers pay them for sharing it. The activity of both PSV owners and advertisers will be regulated by a reputation system to maximize the likelihood that when users respond to ads they are genuinely interested and that the ads the network carries are not deceptive. Digital advertising will thus be far better targeted than it currently is and Internet users will be more receptive to digital advertising than they currently are.
Automated trust will be the overriding principle that runs like a thread through the design of both the Algebraix platform and the business model it executes. The Algebraix Business Opportunity The personal data of Internet users is currently exploited in a variety of ways by Internet companies, particularly giants like Google and Facebook, based on a “push advertising” model, where ads are pushed at users without their permission, often in distracting and irritating ways: pop-ups, autoplay videos, unavoidable video ads, search result ads—even ads that stalk you from web site to web sites. It is a virtual blizzard of interruption, worse than ads on TV.
The cost of gaining the consumer’s attention has grown by a factor of 7 - 9 over the last two decades and it shows. It is no wonder that 25% of US web users run adblocking software.
Nevertheless, the digital advertising business is tremendously successful and growing dramatically. In the Global Advertising Forecast Report, published in December 2016, Magna estimated digital advertising revenues for 2016 to be over $178 billion (36% of the total global advertising spend of $493 billion).
Approximately 54% of the revenue was shared between Google and Facebook. Magna predicts that the total global spend will rise to 50% of the total by 2021 (i.e., $300 billion of an estimated $600 billion).
Algebraix intends to disrupt this valuable market with a new and innovative approach to advertising. Advertisers will be attracted to it because this approach is better able to target consumers. Consumers will be attracted because they will be rewarded for their attention and their participation will be entirely voluntary. Algebraix will take a simple commission on each interaction.