Project description
Innovation for privacy protection
In our digital world, personal data plays an instrumental role in personalising information, products and services. However, the use and elaboration of personal data are monopolised by a few social platforms and search engines. As a result, the majority of content and service providers have limited access to valuable data. On the other hand, consumers have restricted control over their personal information and limited possibilities to protect their privacy. The EU-funded ID Ward project proposes a solution that provides the consumer with the ability to fully control their data and use it to receive personalised content on apps and websites. The data generated by the consumer is protected by end-to-end encryption and the personalised content is elaborated with AI.
Objective
In an overcrowded digital space, personal data is key to match individual consumers with the information, products and services they want. However, the data market suffers from extreme consolidation and concentration. On one side, a handful of social platforms and search engines monopolise personal data to provide highly personalised products, services and content. On the other side, most content and service providers have so little data that they waste billions in mistargeted marketing, uncompetitive products, and slow innovation cycles. In this scramble, consumers have little or no control over their personal information and struggle to protect their privacy: their data (what they read, watch and buy online, where they live, the places they visit and the things they care about) is often collected, stored and transacted without their knowledge and consent. They experience content overload and look for original and relevant content from trusted sources.
ID Ward solves these problems by making personal data an asset owned and shared directly by the consumer, who can use it to receive personalised content on publishers’ apps and websites. ID Ward works as a universal profile that aggregates data from a network of websites. Its entry point is a simple login that is used to identify the consumer and tracks activities across a network of apps and websites. The data generated by the consumer is made private using end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and used to train AI for personalisation. This reduces content overload and eliminates the need to create multiple profiles and repeatedly accept cookies, while a simple interface gives the consumer control over who can use their data for personalisation. For the companies, privacy-preserving personalisation increases traffic, improves marketing and drives ad revenue. Three large European media companies have agreed to pilot the technology and pay for the development of a prototype.
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencescomputer securitydata protection
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencebig data
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationstelecommunications networksdata networks
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
NG72TU Nottingham
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.