EthCC 2022 — Personal Data, NFTs, and iExec Confidential Computing: an early product prototype
Discovering the latest updates while eating croissants with the Ethereum development community? That’s EthCC! The team has been a sponsor of the EthCC event every year since their first edition, each year presenting our latest milestones on the main stage. 2022 was no different. iExec CEO Gilles Fedak gave an exclusive sneak peek at an early product prototype: a personal data wallet that mints NFTs from personal data, which can be used to identify users within decentralized applications while retaining total governance and confidentiality.
Today, you need to share your personal data to access a service
Before introducing our work on this prototype, let’s face a fact. Today, there is a sense of obligation to share personal data to access or use Web2 services or applications. If you’re not willing to share your email or phone number, chances are that you can’t use any Web2 applications. Even after you’ve handed over your personal data, you can’t be sure exactly where your data goes or how it is used.
On the contrary, Blockchain and Web3 offer users the opportunity to regain control over their personal data. That’s why iExec is building a personal data wallet that could change the way users’ personal data is used and shared within applications.
Tomorrow, keep confidentiality of your personal data while identifying with dapps
The prototype iExec has conceptualized is a hub where NFTs are created to represent users’ personal data. This personal data could be an email address, a copy of your identity, KYC information, or any other personal documents. Once the NFTs created from your personal data have been minted, you can use them to identify yourself within decentralized applications. Meanwhile, thanks to iExec, blockchain, and confidential computing tech, you maintain total confidentiality, ownership, and governance over your data while it is in use by the dapp.
- Ownership: Your data is represented by NFTs and encrypted off-chain (confidential NFTs).
- Governance: You can decide which application can use your data, as the blockchain allows you to define the governance rules.
- Confidentiality: Your data remains private and no one can access it, as iExec confidential computing technology keeps the data encrypted during the identification process.
Developers would be able to use the iExec data wallet as an authentification tool for their decentralized applications, ensuring that users’ personal data is never revealed and that they keep complete governance over it.
This was a first introduction to what may be the next product release for iExec. Final features, as well as the look and feel of the product, could be very different when it is officially launched. For now, we won’t be answering any questions on a release date, exact features, or app integrations. This remains a prototype and is only a first iteration. We’ll be sure to provide further updates over the coming months as developments continue.
To learn more about the Personal Data Wallet prototype, and get an overview of some of the tech specifications, watch the presentation Gilles gave at EthCC:
Thank you for reading!
