‘Owning your data is a basic human right’, says blockchain-based startup Credify’s Rasmus Kütt

What happens when 20 years of development experience meets that of e-commerce, blockchain, and finance? Most likely, it will lead to a shift in how all or at least one of these areas will function.

And that’s what founders of Credify –Makoto Tominaga, Shuichi Nagao, Rasmus Kütt and Maurizio Raffone — want to data management in e-commerce and finance with their collective experience.

Started in 2018, Credify was born out of research they conducted on how to achieve a fair and genuinely meritocratic reputation system in e-commerce. Their study showed that systems to ensure counterparty credibility in finance and digital exchange of money were fundamentally flawed and that they can easily be manipulated by rogue actors in the system.

Their core product acts as a personal data bridge, connecting consuming services like e-commerce marketplaces and lending platforms with institutions that possess valuable, yet untapped information like identity verification results and credit scores.

They aim to significantly reduce fraud in e-commerce and finance, while also unlocking entirely new revenue opportunities through their secure and cost-effective blockchain-based Credify Universal Identity and incentive-based Trust System.

We spoke to Kütt, Head of Marketing and Business Development, to understand more about how Credify employs blockchain to make data management more secure and how it can empower the consumer while incentivising business.

How exactly do you use blockchain in your core product at Credify?

One of the ways Credify is unique is that the technology used for its core services is based on secure and cost-effective EOSIO blockchain technology. This technology allows for industry-leading throughput capabilities and a highly flexible deployment environment.

Only indices of encrypted data, and not the data itself, are stored in the blockchain, securing user account information through a tamper-proof record.

As a result, user data cannot be leaked or breached through a central-point vulnerability, reducing the risk of fraud for companies and raising overall levels of trust in the ecosystems they enhance.

All of this is secured by standard encryption protocols that ensure the true owner of the data controls access to and manages their credentials. At the same time realising new monetisation opportunities as the data is accessed on a compensation basis.

As an illustration, when a company wishes to retrieve user data from the owner, and the owner grants that permission, then that user data is securely decrypted on-device and sent directly to the requesting party. On top of this, we are developing a novel stake-based mechanism of expressing counterparty credibility that relies heavily on smart-contract managed DLT’s, called Credification.

But how exactly does Credify help the end-user?

The issue nowadays is that companies are using user data in ways that are not visible to the end-users. In some instances, it has led to dramatic losses, such as those associated with Cambridge Analytica and other Facebook-driven scandals.

Companies are also storing that user data centrally within their ecosystems, which are constantly breached by hackers. We have an endlessly growing list of links that show this problem is much emphasised in the SEA region, where high incidents of account takeover and fakes jeopardise ecosystem health.

Also read: 3 companies leveraging the power of blockchain technology in security

The flow for the end-user, and the way Credify helps the end-user in e-commerce and finance ecosystems, is as follows.

By installing Credify Universal Identity app, a user then starts putting together his universal digital identity “passport.” The user does this by first aggregating his user data into Credify ID from sources like their carrier, social accounts, eKYC, and eventually data sources that we already trust, like banks and insurance providers.

By having a universal and unique digital identity “passport,” the user now has one service where its most commonly used personal data resides, inside the Universal Identity app.

That information is retrievable from multi-layer encrypted decentralised networks, where there exists no central point of attack–this is in stark contrast from centralised systems that are in constant peril of this vulnerability.

This user is now the only entity who can access and manage his data. When companies want to utilise parts of the user’s data, they have to request permission directly from the user, allowing the user to determine whether they would like to provide that access or not.

Naturally, the user is okay in letting the company access his data for registration and login purposes but he might decline company access to other more sensitive data for cases where the requesting platform is not fully trusted or does not logically require such information.

Such a Universal Identity solution also allows easy data interoperability throughout enterprise ecosystems, which in some cases amount to more than 10 separate services owned by the same company. The Universal Identity is similar to a “Sign in with Google” but with all the added benefits and security mentioned previously.

Credify Trust System acts as an enhancement to the Universal Identity solution in cases where rating and vouching is needed. Company “coins”/” points” are tokenised and used by the end-users to vouch for the reputation of transactions, products, digital services, merchants, shoppers, borrowers, etc.

Such rating and vouching activities incentivise and unlock gamification in the ecosystem so that rewards are given out for vouching for positive outcomes. All these histories and events are also cryptographically secured and stored on the blockchain.

This is quite empowering. So how will Credify execute this over the next decade?

Credify is a believer in the concept of ‘Own Your Data’, and that it should be part of a basic human right that everyone has the right to legal ownership of their inherent personal data as property.

We are laser-focused on developing a user base for the technology that catalyses greater credit inclusiveness around SEA markets, giving this much-underserved area of the world a leap ahead when it comes to personal data privacy and participation in its value.

In five years, we aim to be deployed across all major SEA nations, with deep integration into each member country’s digital finance and commerce leaders.

Over the decade, we envision becoming an integral piece in the connection between the coming world of decentralised finance and hyper-integrated commerce, where users can freely move about service providers without having to worry their options are limited by lack of portability of their financial/credit profile and reputation.

I am glad you mentioned SEA expansion. What are your key markets or clients in the region? 

ASEAN nations represent the fastest growth opportunities globally in fintech and e-commerce: US$72B fintech market with 72.5 per cent CAGR by 2020, and US$102B e-commerce market by 2025.

At the same time, Southeast Asia fraud rates in finance and ecommerce are globally one of the highest.

Credify aims to tackle these issues with its software backed by patent-pending technologies, and also enable entirely new revenue streams for these traditional organisations in a completely secure and data privacy-compliant manner.

Credify’s goals for 2020 are to enhance the development of its suite of products, further localise its software development operations in South East Asia, and move ahead with its live client engagements. Our key markets are: Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. And we are currently in the process of starting a project with one Japanese-Philippines Security Token Exchange.

We recently closed a US$1M seed round investment with two leading Beenext and Deepcore which it plans to use for expansion in SEA.

What does the latest funding mean to you?

This funding round allows Credify to enhance the development of its suite of products, further localise its software development operations in South East Asia, and move ahead with its live client engagements.

Also read: Top 9 data and analytics trends to watch out for in 2020

The investment represents far more value than the capital that will assist us as we execute on our vision to elevate trust in digital economies. Both Beenext and Deepcore bring with them strong networks within our target markets and deep understanding of the strategic and practical execution necessary to transform early-stage businesses to large-scale growth enterprises.

How will Credify aid data regulation and consumer protection of data in Asia?

GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA/HiTech, and California Consumer Privacy Act are all having an impact on user data. All data regulations have one thing in common: they urge businesses to respect users’ privacy, anonymity, and consent to share or withhold certain information.

Credify’s CFO and Interim COO, Maurizio Raffone, has direct experience working with regulators and public entities in SEA to foster the adoption of best practices and support the development of a secure yet open digital economy. We seek to educate all stakeholders about the importance of adopting open standards, secured and cost-effective solutions to foster financial inclusion and individuals’ rights to data ownership.

We believe that consumers should have sole ownership of their digital and analogue identities and should have the right to moderate how their personal data is shared and used by third-parties. Personal information should remain in the hands of users, also reducing compliance, cybersecurity and data management costs of businesses servicing consumers.

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Image credit: Credify

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