Data

Web3’s responsibility is to advance data privacy

Published

5 months ago

November 16, 2024

Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news’ editorial.

In the United States, 92 per cent of individuals reported concern over their privacy while using the internet, highlighting how recent massive data breaches and narratives around Big Tech data monetization have eroded internet users’ trust. This has been especially heightened by the rise of opaque artificial intelligence systems and evolving sociopolitical landscapes.

Gaps in regulation

While the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation in 2018 set a benchmark as the first comprehensive legal act aimed at enhancing internet users’ privacy rights, it is not without its shortcomings.

GDPR and subsequent regulatory frameworks have largely been ineffective at enforcing and holding Big Tech companies, particularly Google and Meta, accountable for collecting and selling user data. Claims surrounding potential GDPR violations have reportedly taken years, sometimes more than four, to be handled. The delays stem from complex procedures involving multiple agencies and countries handling complaints against specific companies, creating significant backlogs and weakening the act’s ability to enforce and uphold its mandate.

In the United States, the absence of federal legislation on data protection has led numerous states to take matters into their own hands. The US’s patchwork regulatory reality may create more harm than good, as variations on specific matters create endless compliance complexities for businesses operating across numerous states.

Users then receive varying degrees of data protection based on their location at any given time. Furthermore, for small- and medium-sized businesses, developing individual compliance programs for individual state regulators heightens costs that limit their ability to compete with Big Tech and other large corporations.

Meanwhile, Big Tech has been throwing its weight around with intense lobbying efforts, claiming any sort of legislation with real teeth to it will undermine innovation. While this is a discussion worth having, companies whose business model is highly dependent on data-based ad revenue don’t want increased consumer data protections.

Despite heightened awareness surrounding the value and vulnerability of personal data privacy, centralized entities, in the form of Big Tech conglomerates and governments, hold powerful sway over our user data. Regulatory protections are usually welcomed, but the lack of transparency between the intentions of Big Tech and governments won’t repair the distrust many have toward both.

Web3’s heightened role

This is precisely where web3’s decentralized infrastructure can bypass centralized entities, whose interests may not align with most users, to provide a higher standard of data protection.

Blockchain—and web3 more broadly—have had countless iterations and use cases of its technology designed to try and build wealth through games, crypto schemes, or other avenues. However, many projects and developers are either missing or choosing to ignore the potential they have in protecting user data.

Thanks to blockchain’s inherent encryption technology and immutable ledger, some web3-based privacy projects are staking their claim as an alternative to the current web2 system that dominates online interactions to profit from ad revenue. One such example is tomi, a DAO-governed project that leverages web3’s data-preserving strengths to create a decentralized, privacy-focused “alternative internet.”

tomi’s modus operandi is to champion security, data privacy, and freedom of speech throughout its operations and product offering. This includes offering services that advance its mission in material ways—including a VPN, storage, and private messaging service for its users to safeguard their browsing and communications by leaning into web3’s capacity for data privacy. Since the project is governed by a community and works on a unified model to keep the familiarity and UX of web2, tomi’s focus lies in making decentralized technology as intuitive and accessible as possible.

The reality is that as much as regular users would like to take more steps to preserve their data privacy, they’re unlikely to take these measures if there’s any inconvenience involved. This simple fact creates an obstacle that many web3 infrastructure projects don’t feel comfortable trying to overcome.

So, what is the takeaway here? For one, web3 projects must take themselves more seriously as champions of data privacy and protection within a cratered regulatory landscape worldwide. By stepping in with alternatives for those who are concerned about both Big Tech and regulatory overreach, developers have a strong and compelling use case that won’t fizzle out during a market downturn. However, preserving privacy cannot come at the expense of UX, and this must remain at the forefront if projects ever want a significant user base to transition to web3.

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Blockchain

Pontus-X taps Oasis for private, cross-border data sharing in E.U.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 31, 2025

admin

Unveiled on March 31 at Hannover Messe 2025, the production version of Pontus-X, developed by deltaDAO AG, marks a major step forward for Europe’s digital sovereignty strategy.

Built on the Gaia-X framework and powered by Oasis Network’s privacy-preserving blockchain, Pontus-X is now the largest publicly available data space in Europe.

With over 180 onboarded institutions, including Airbus, OHB SE, and T-Systems, the platform is built for secure, compliant sharing and monetization of data and digital services across borders and industries.

The ecosystem supports more than 570 services across aerospace, manufacturing, mobility, AI, and agriculture.

Pontus-X leverages a federated approach to data sharing, emphasizing control, privacy, and interoperability. Features like Compute-to-Data allow algorithms to process information without exposing the underlying data, making it ideal for sensitive sectors such as defense and space.

To learn more about how this next-generation data space works under the hood, crypto.news spoke with both Oasis Network and Pontus-X leadership.

Our Q&A covers the technical foundations of confidential computing, how data access controls are managed, and why this platform could become the default stack for sovereign AI and data monetization across Europe.

A few key takeaways: Oasis shared how its Sapphire ParaTime uses hardware-level Trusted Execution Environments to protect data during processing, and deltaDAO explained how Pontus-X enables legally binding digital contracts that comply with evolving EU rules under the Data Act and MiCA.

Here’s our full Q&A with Oasis and Pontus-X.

Oasis Network

1. Oasis powers Pontus-X with its privacy-preserving blockchain. Why is confidential computing such a critical foundation for data spaces like this — and what specific privacy features are being used in the live deployment?

Confidential computing is essential for data spaces like Pontus-X because it allows organizations to share and monetize their data while maintaining control over sensitive information and intellectual property. Oasis provides confidentiality through Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) via our Sapphire ParaTime, which enables encrypted network state and confidential smart contracts that protect data during processing. This approach gives enterprises the confidence to participate in data sharing ecosystems without exposing their raw data, making previously impossible cross-organization collaborations viable while still meeting strict European privacy and regulatory requirements.

2. The press release calls this a “secure, decentralized data ecosystem” powered by Oasis. For crypto-native builders, can you explain how data is secured during processing? Is confidentiality enforced at the hardware level (e.g., TEEs), smart contract level, or through cryptographic techniques?

Oasis secures data during processing primarily through hardware-level Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) – specifically Intel SGX technology – which create secure enclaves where data is decrypted, processed, and re-encrypted without exposure to node operators. This TEE-based approach is complemented by our confidential smart contract layer on Sapphire, which enables developers to customize which aspects of state remain encrypted and which can be public, offering flexibility for different use cases.

3. This deployment puts Oasis at the center of Europe’s digital sovereignty stack. Strategically, do you see privacy-preserving blockchains like Oasis becoming a default infrastructure layer for sovereign data ecosystems? And how are you positioning Oasis in discussions with EU regulators and Gaia-X stakeholders?

We absolutely see privacy-preserving blockchains becoming the default infrastructure layer for sovereign data ecosystems, as they uniquely address the competing demands for data sharing, monetization, and control that are central to Europe’s digital sovereignty vision. Fundamentally, you can’t have free, and open collaboration onchain without privacy and security. But to answer the second part of your question, we aren’t regularly dealing directly with regulators on projects like this, Oasis is only the infra provider and everything is open source, so the compliance side of things is more on the dapp level.

4. How does Oasis handle permissioning and access control in data spaces like Pontus-X, where some services may require restricted access or need to comply with sector-specific rules (e.g., aerospace, defense)? Is this built into the smart contract layer or handled off-chain?

Oasis is the infra provider that enables the permissions and access controls that are enforced through smart contracts, but the policies are designed and implemented by Pontus-X.

5. Now that Pontus-X is live on Oasis mainnet, what are the next steps for deeper integration? Are there plans to extend functionality like cross-chain interoperability, native token payments, or smart contract templates tailored to sovereign data use cases?

Pontus-X going live on Oasis mainnet marks a significant milestone for the project bringing trustlessness, privacy and compliance in data and AI to production. The platform Pontus-X is built on offers a lot of flexibility in terms of cross-chain interoperability, custom gas tokens and smart contract design. Next steps are helping the deltaDAO team with further developments that will make it even easier for them to onboard new partners and meet their customers where they are.

6. Pontus-X emphasizes monetization of data, AI models, and digital services. Is Oasis being used to facilitate those payments on-chain — and if so, how are they handled in practice? Are stablecoins like EUROe involved, or is there a native token mechanism in place?

The monetization is of data, AI models and other services is done directly onchain between the parties so Oasis/Pontus-X infrastructure is used to facilitate those payments. As the project is still in its prototyping stage, a mock stablecoin token is used to help with the testing but the Pontus-X team is also already in conversations with digital EURO providers about integrations with the Oasis infrastructure that will be used for all the payments in the ecosystem.

Pontus-X/deltaDAO

1. You’re calling Pontus-X Europe’s largest publicly available data space to date. Can you walk us through what makes this the most expansive Gaia-X-based ecosystem in production — in terms of technical scale, cross-border interoperability, and the types of services currently live?

Technically, Pontus-X scales through 16 validators spanning multiple European countries, processing over 1.2 million validated transactions on its testnet before moving to production in February 2025. Its cross-border interoperability comes from connecting more than 15 initiatives, including five different Gaia-X lighthouse projects across industries via a collectively and democratically governed distributed ledger, eliminating traditional data-sharing barriers through standardized smart contracts and Compute-to-Data technology. Currently live services include Airbus’ Functional Simulation as a Service, RADIUSMEDIA’s Holowork AR solution for cleanrooms, aerospace supplier collaboration tools from ZARM Technik and itemis AG, Skywise Flight Analyzer, and the Digital Project Management Office – all operating in a production environment.

Pontus-X has been selected as a lighthouse project and is now part of the EU Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox. What kinds of legal or regulatory questions are you exploring there — and do you see this helping shape future rules around blockchain-based data monetization or AI-driven data usage in Europe?

The deltaDAO team was exploring how to build a legally compliant decentralized data economy using DLT and smart contracts. Discussions with European regulators focused on compliance with the Data Act, AI Act, Data Governance Act, MiCA, and AML/KYB regulations, plus enabling legally binding digital contracts via smart contracts. Yes, this sandbox experience significantly shaped Pontus-X’s production launch and is paving the way for future rules on blockchain-based data monetization and AI-driven data usage in Europe.

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breach

494,000 Americans Affected As Massive Data Breach Exposes Names, Financial Records, Medical Data, Social Security Numbers and More: Report

Published

2 weeks ago

March 29, 2025

admin

A cybersecurity incident affecting nearly half a million people has exposed personal, financial and medical information.

The mobility and assistive solutions provider Numotion says 494,000 customers are affected by a data breach witnessed between September 2nd, 2024, and November 18th, 2024, reports Security Week.

Numotion says an unknown entity managed to access the email accounts of the firm’s employees without authorization several times.

The firm says that after an extensive review, it determined that the emails in question contain sensitive customer information.

Numotion says it has “no reason to believe that anyone was trying to access personal information in the accounts,” and it’s offering identity theft protection services for users whose Social Security numbers were stolen.

“The type of information that may have been viewed varied for each individual, but could have included names, dates of birth, product information, payment and financial account information, health insurance information, medical information, and for a minority of individuals, Social security numbers and driver’s license numbers.”

Numotion says affected customers should stay vigilant and report any strange activity related to identity theft, healthcare fraud or financial fraud.

“If individuals detect any suspicious activity, they should notify the entity with which the account is maintained, and promptly report any fraudulent activity to proper law enforcement authorities, including the police and their state attorney general.”

Numotion focuses on serving people with disabilities by providing customized assistive equipment such as wheelchairs, seating and positioning gear, as well as home accessibility and medical supplies.

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bank

21,899 Bank Customers Affected As US Lender Suffers Cybersecurity Breach, Hacker Taps Social Security Numbers and Other Sensitive Information

Published

3 weeks ago

March 22, 2025

admin

A billion-dollar bank is warning customers after a cybersecurity breach affecting thousands of customers.

In a filing with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, Western Alliance Bank says an unauthorized actor exploited a vulnerability in a third-party file transfer software system it uses.

The breach, which was discovered in late January and happened in October, impacts 21,899 customers, according to the filing.

“Western Alliance learned that an unauthorized actor had potentially accessed some of Western Alliance’s data on January 27, 2025. Our investigation determined that the unauthorized actor acquired certain files from the systems from October 12, 2024, to October 24, 2024…

On February 21, 2025, we determined that the files contained some of your personal information, including your name and Social Security number. The files may have also contained your date of birth, financial account number, driver’s license number, tax identification number, and/or passport, if you provided it to Western Alliance.”

The bank says it has informed law enforcement about the data breach and is offering customers a 12-month complimentary membership to an identity-theft protection service.

Western Alliance Bank currently has approximately $81 billion in total assets, according to the Federal Reserve.

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