Case Study

With blockchain technology, privacy management becomes clear, guaranteed and certified, enabling citizens to use the services in a trusted and secure way in conformity to the GDPR

Data has an extraordinary economic and social value. It has gradually evolved into an essential infrastructure which Europe has decided to protect and make accessible and homogeneous for all citizens, both within and outside the European Union.

In force since May 2018, the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has reformulated according to a different perspective the principles governing privacy, increasing the responsibility of the subjects that manage data and promoting the awareness of citizens to whom the data belongs.

According the chairman of the Centre for Digital Economy, the Italian board that promotes digital economy in the institutional and socio-economic contexts, the revolution started by Copernicus is the most appropriate analogy to describe the sweeping changes introduced by the new European data protection regulation: whereas before, the platforms that managed data were the “centre of the universe”, now it is the citizens – the sole owners of the data – who occupy this position.

Blockchain is a revolution in its own right, which is set to redefine the entire market. More specifically, it is an infrastructure that produces tangible effects only when it is adopted by ecosystems. Promoters and incubators of proven trust and authority are required. Like the public administration, which can play a decisive role in this process thanks to the vision and expertise of Almaviva. And, in particular, municipalities, which are the main drivers of innovation towards citizens, who have growing and entirely new expectations.

Public Privacy, a shared protection tool

Many of the country’s “digital first” communities have already chosen Almaviva as a partner for their digital transformation.

The Public Privacy platform which Almaviva has already implemented for one of Italy’s largest metropolitan cities is secure and always accessible. Unlike other products on the market, it transfers control on consent back to citizens and decentralises the requests for exercising the rights, certifying them and delivering to users and providers alike a real shared protection tool.

With Almaviva solution, privacy management becomes clear, guaranteed and certified, enabling citizens to use the services in a trusted and fully secure way.

Blockchains and the GDPR, a feasible marriage

The debate regarding the compatibility between blockchain technology and the new European data protection regulation is very complex and is a hot topic among the sector operators and press.

A solution that favours this compatibility and exploits the potential of both requires an in-depth knowledge of the new regulatory concepts introduced by the GDPR, and of the potential that blockchain technology can reveal when applied through correct adoption models.

Through the Public Privacy instrument, the consents and wills of users, but not their data, are recorded in the blockchain in a non-profilable manner, compatibly with their right to be forgotten and to be fully protected in case of unauthorised use, proving that this marriage can work and is in fact desirable.

Rather than being a perceived risk, the blockchain becomes an opportunity to guarantee in a transparent way the rights, protection and freedom of citizens with regard to privacy. An instrument that tangibly and definitively transfers to the data subjects the exclusivity, availability and control of their own data, pursuant to the declared aim of the GDPR.

The public administration guarantees

A unique example among its kind, Public Privacy supports management of consents and citizen requests on Blockchain with public access and participation.

It is the public administration that guarantees both the identity of its citizens on the platform and the correctness of the service agreements with the providers, verified and certified on Blockchain.

Service providers therefore have a new tool to verify whether they have the necessary authorisations to process the data of citizens. A reliable tool that is always accessible and cannot be repudiated by users.

A “data in hand” APP for citizens

Thanks to an APP , citizens finally have full control over their decisions.

At any time, they can verify who is processing their data, withdraw the authorisations even for single pieces of data, submit requests for accessing the data, portability and the right to be forgotten.

The APP provides citizens with a forgery-proof digital signature tool guaranteeing secure transactions, signed by an encryption key located exclusively in their device.

Real production-ready solutions for public and private organisations: would you like more information on Almaviva Blockchain?