The HAT allows you to monetize data companies keep

Each time you feed your personal data in Social Networking Sites (SNS) like Facebook, go anywhere using Google Maps, order stuffs on e-commerce sites, use a search engine – you are providing a bulk of private information to corporations. And those corporations fuel their motives with your data by analyzing it and harvesting profit from it. But what if you can monetize your personal data while redefining the way the Internet works? This is what you can achieve if the crowdfunding campaign led by The HAT on Indiegogo meets its goal of raising £50,000. The HAT is a storehouse of personal data and a multi-sided platform technology that allows you to see, control and share your personal data. The company started as a big research project in partnership between 6 universities with a common goal to change the Internet. Ideally, it is a privacy preserving market platform that would allow you to exchange and monetize your data with others.

How does The HAT work?

The HAT is a private and secure cloud-based information system with storage and data processing abilities. It’s your own microserver container. You can access your data and manage it from an easy-to-use dashboard, a hyperdata browser called Rumpel. With Rumpel, you can access your HAT from desktop and mobile devices. With bulk of data as their only bloodline, management of data arises as the major challenge.The HAT Personal Data Schema allows data from multiple verticals to be bridged and re-organised, even reorganising data points, while PDS tends to keep vertical data in their original forms.  

What exactly can you do with your HAT?

The HAT offers endless possibilities are endless with a vision to cater to netizens with a great service. Here’s what you can start with: You can claim your data- for the first time see what organisations like Facebook, Google, broadband providers, supermarkets, online stores, streaming services and transport providers and more know about you You can organise this data- combine your personal information like calendar, photos and emails with the data you’ve claimed and use wonderful visualizations to see what the digital version of you really looks like You can trade this data- companies offer you financial and product incentives to share what you’ve found out about yourself in an anonymous, safe way If you are an expert user, you can install the HAT on your computer or other devices in your home or office (the hard HAT), or if you’re like the rest of us, subscribe to a service provided by certified HAT platform providers (HPP) that are legally committed to ensure privacy, security and confidentiality. You can move your HAT between HPPs at any time. HPPs are regulated by the HAT Foundation. Here’s more on how you can use this platform productively:    

And how do you get to control your data?

The HAT’s Direct Data Debits allow you to control what bundle you’d like to share, who to share with, when and how in a ‘direct debit’ manner, meaning you have full control, and can change your mind, even after your initial agreement to share the data, although you might no longer benefit from the exchange.

Is your data safe with The HAT?

All market platforms need a regulator to ensure everyone abides by the rules of the market, especially with regard to privacy, security and confidentiality. The HAT market platform is regulated by the HAT foundation, a social enterprise grouping taking over from the 6-university multidisciplinary research project. The HAT network actually has a regulatory body and oversight through the HAT foundation and it regulates any party participating in the exchange ecosystem to act within the code of practice. HAT Foundation certification ensures every party “play nice” according to the rules, otherwise they may be excluded from the ecosystem.

Rolling out The HAT !

With the campaign undoubtedly ruling in their favour, The HAT basket is already brimming with £49,095 (GBP), with 15 days still remaining to achieve the target of £50,000. The company plans to launch HAT in beta with 1GB storage for every user from 1 July 2016 followed by a target to transition from beta to public within 3 months. Furthermore, they aspire to streamline their efforts towards building the development community with more apps to further monetization of data, and write more code to bring more data in for its users. Over 60% of people believe their data is worth £30 per month. In reality, it could be a lot more. You can’t see this data, and you don’t have the ability to trade it like corporations do. But it’s yours! And The HAT gives you the whip in your hand. So you can track and trade this data just as the biggest companies in the world do. With the dawn of the Internet of Things, it’s time to take control of our connected lives and start benefiting from the new data rules. May be its now time to put The HAT on!!!