Personal data has been a subject of manipulation for years. In the last three decades, specifically, one of the major concerns that have driven users up the wall was the loss of control. In this day and age, data gathering and privacy protection in the online realm are ubiquitous and none of the two can be compromised.
Corporate giants and free apps have taken over individual identities. The main concern that has given these entities the power over an individual’s personal data is the lack of awareness about the use of the information in question.
Enter, the ambitious French blockchain project called ‘XSL Labs’
In a bid to hand the ownership of personal data back to the people, XSL Labs has pioneered to create an ecosystem that guarantees online trust through the means of a decentralized solution called SDI (Secure Digital Identity) that leverages blockchain technology.
Headed by CEO George Tresignies aka “Slash Coin”, the team of XSL Labs essentially consists of 16 people working on the development of the project. The French startup has come a long way since its official launch.
The two things that XSL Labs plans to tackle are:
- Low security
- Dispersion of personal data online
Secure Digital Identity (SDI) solution
The Secure Digital Identity (SDI) solution is a set of data managed exclusively by each user to permit digital identification that is being developed by the XSL Labs team. Based on blockchain technology, SDI will be able to act as a trusted digital passport in the days to come.
It is constructed in a way so that it contains a private and a public key and the combination of these two keys is what guarantees its holder to remain in full control of his/her identity. Furthermore, all the personal data that is integrated into the SDI solution is secured by a cryptographic encryption which is then stored in a distributed decentralized blockchain-type ledger.
SDI also enables the user to decide at any time to close his/her SDI making the data inoperative and inaccessible unless a third party has an unrestricted right of access to the data contained therein.
The solution is generated by “smart contracts” that shape the entire life cycle of each SDI, from Creation, Modification to user rights agreements. In other words, smart contracts will basically guarantee the non-use of personal data without the user’s consent. In addition to that, it will
allow the SDI holder to prohibit or authorize the reading of the data making up his/her identity.
With this, the third party entities will not be able to edit the SDI and will only have temporary reading rights of the data it contains. Furthermore, they will only be able to read the data specifically authorized by the user.
SYL Token:
This is where the SYL token comes into the picture. The SYL will be used as gas, which will be isolated at the moment of creation or modification of the smart contract.
The first phase of the ICO for the token was a success which made it possible for the platform to distribute 1 billion SYL. As it finalizes its ICO phase that began last year, the SYL token is set to be issued by the first quarter of 2021.
Some of the SYL use cases are: The monetization of personal data. Given the intrinsic properties of data as economic goods, and with the ever-mounting scrutiny on data privacy, monetization seems like a distant dream. But monetization of personal data is one of the main use cases of the SYL token which will act as the vehicle of exchange, purchase of services, and execution of smart contracts in the SYL Ecosystem.
Apart from being a means of transfer of value, ie., a utility token, SYL will enable the purchases of services from the XSL Labs ecosystem and of DApps available on the SYL Library. It will allow the purchases of services on the XSL Labs ecosystem, and in the creation and management of smart contracts as well as the remuneration of the verifiable credential emitters.
0.25 SYL (250,000 syloshis) per creation of SDI (these SYL will come from the escrow of XSL Labs)
Zooming out, SDI solution aims to limit the dispersion of a person’s online data while simultaneously increasing the security aspects. All this while also allowing individuals to regain control over their personal data.
SDI – A decentralized identifier
To dive deeper, it is imperative to understand that DID (Decentralized IDentifier) is a unique address that allows access to a document, called the “DID Document”. The DID used in the XSL Labs project is the Secure Digital Identity (SDI). In short, the SDI is a decentralized identifier used to obtain a “DID Document”.