AMA Recap: Swash meets The Grey Crypto Hub

Swash can’t stop its mission to spread knowledge about the new age of data, where the individual has the reins and the opportunity to expand their income online.

This Saturday, Swash joined an AMA with The Grey Crypto Hub, a group of engaged crypto enthusiasts looking to learn more about decentralised solutions based on blockchain technology.

Swash’s CMO caught up with the Grey community, with an overwhelming number of questions and interest in Swash, from its technology to the upcoming token launch.

Read more about what Swash is and the answers to all the great questions from the Grey Community.

We are so curious about Swash! Please tell us about Swash in detail.

Chloë:
Happy to!

Swash is a movement for reimagining data ownership. It is an ecosystem of tools and services that enable people, businesses, and developers to unlock the latent value of data by pooling, securely sharing, and monetising its value.

Swash’s live product already has over 60K users! It takes just a few minutes to install and is available on all major browsers. Swash allows for people to capture, pool, and sell their data while receiving their share of the profits it generates, while they surf the web as normal.

• People can share their data to earn without compromising their privacy.
• Businesses can access high-quality, zero-party data in a sustainable and compliant way.
• Developers can set up and build systems within a collaborative development framework with ease.

What are the long term Marketing plans of Swash?

Chloë:
The main marketing for Swash so far has been through a referral program (which was very successful, we expanded from 5000 to 50,000 in a few months!). We will be sharing some giveaways and a new type of referral system soon, so watch this space.

We also work alongside some of the best names in Web 3, including Chainlink, Streamr, Ocean Protocol, Outlier Ventures, Boson Protocol, Amasa, 1 World Online, Tapmydata, Crunch Digital Media, and the DPPA. The world of decentralised data is an incredible, collaborative space to be and that has really helped to push Swash to the forefront of this space. You can read more about our partnerships here.

Swash has already caught the eye of major media publications, including Harvard Business Review, Forbes, CoinDesk, and Cointelegraph, to name a few. Also, Mozilla Foundation, Aapti Institute, and the ODI have included Swash in their research as a pioneering example of an alternative data institution.

Moving forward, the Swash mailing list will be a key area where people can get the latest news on the project and our IDO. You can also follow our updates on Twitter and Telegram. We share regular blogs and Spotlight Series videos to showcase our partners and advisors. Here’s the latest one with Bruce Pon, Founder of Ocean Protocol. Swash swag is coming soon too.

What problems did Swash run into when trying to roll out Swash products in active businesses? What is difficult to explain to non-crypto users about Swash and what are the benefits of using it?

Chloë:
Great question!

Because of the way Swash works and how it’s centred around redistributing the value of data back to users, it’s important that people who are less tech or crypto-savvy can join Swash to be able to benefit. That is why we focus so much on creating a friendly, easy user experience and why we put simplicity and transparency first.

As an example, the browser extension takes only a few minutes to install and a wallet is created for you during this time, so anyone can do it and start earning straight away. For all products and services built on Swash (which you can read about here or in our whitepaper), this will be the priority.

Also, people are starting to understand that their data has value. When they use the internet, that information is worth something. And it’s worth trillions of dollars, so why shouldn’t people receive their share of it? That applies to everyone who uses the internet, not just crypto fans.

I read on your website that Swash has 4 core technologies, including: Data Union, sIntelligence, sApps, and sCompute. Can you explain to us more about this technology? What benefits does it provide for users of the Swash platform?

Chloë:
Happy to.

These solutions are products and services that will cater to the needs of each Swash actor: people, businesses, and developers.

For users of Swash — or Data Union members — they will be able to receive passive income as they surf the web as normal, and they will have extra options to earn even more $SWASH when they use things like sApps. This is while taking action towards creating a better internet and practising their data rights!

Here’s a brief overview of the First Wave Solutions but check out the whitepaper for more:

• Data Union: Optimising individual agency as a collective force by rewarding union members for the value of their data.
• sIntelligence: Bringing unique insights to businesses across all industries through a customisable, comprehensive web-based platform.
• sApps: Expanding the Swash ecosystem with the tools, community, and culture for building the next era of data solutions.
• sCompute: Uniting innovation with access by making on-site data computation capabilities a reality.

Because user data is such a serious matter in today’s society, and it is becoming increasingly important day by day, it leads users to lose trust. Hackers are everywhere, and it makes it increasingly difficult to trust apps like Swash. How does Swash fairly keep our information safe?

Chloë:
That’s a very important topic and something we highly value at Swash. Firstly, Swash doesn’t collect anything sensitive! You’ll be asked to verify your email while installing the browser app (so we know you’re not a bot 🤖), but that won’t be used for anything else. (Although, if you do want to receive our email newsletter and be the first to receive our updates, you can sign up here!).

The kind of data Swash collects can be found in the Privacy Policy within the onboarding screens. One thing we do for trust is to be as transparent as possible. Certain UX features, such as the ‘Data’ tab within the current extension allows you to see the data that is captured and remove it before it’s uploaded if you decide not to share it. Also, there’s a toggle which allows people to switch Swash on and off for different sites, giving people more control.

Also, all data is anonymised and end-to-end encrypted before being added to the Data Union and Swash has completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for the Information Commissioner’s Office here in the UK.

Swash plans to release its new product: the “sAd” or Swash Advertisement Platform. Can you tell us more about this product? How does it work and how could it benefit users and the Swash community?

Chloë:
Yes. I love sAd!

sAd is an advertising platform that uses Swash data to create a fair, transparent, and efficient advertising platform. Advertisers can create campaigns to target Swash users, delivering an ad to the individual who will have already opted-in to sAd for the chance to increase their revenue streams.

It measures whether an impression or click was made, which then triggers a smart contract that redistributes the revenue between the users. Similar to Brave but with a unique, cross-browser perspective, sAd is beneficial for users as they get rewarded for their attention but they will also receive more meaningful and useful ads.

For businesses, they can get in front of their target audience in an easy and transparent way and without annoying anyone with irrelevant ads, leading to higher engagement.

When can we expect sAd’s launch?

Chloë:
That will be during the Onshore stage of the development roadmap, so Q1 2023 — Q3 2023.

Partners are very important for every project today. May I know which partners you have now? And, which partners you’ll have in the future?

Chloë:
I agree! We covered this briefly before but Swash’s partners include Chainlink, Streamr, Ocean Protocol, Outlier Ventures, Boson Protocol, Amasa, 1 World Online, Tapmydata, Crunch Digital Media, and the DPPA. We released a whole blog on the work we do together, which you can find here.

We have a pipeline of upcoming partnerships but I can’t reveal them yet! Stay tuned on our social channels.

Open questions from the community

Experienced team is the most vital thing in a company’s growth. A project will not develop without being managed by an experienced team. So,how about your project? Does your team have good experience in the cryptocurrency world?

Chloë:
I’m proud to be working with one of the most skilled and diverse teams in the blockchain space, all with strong backgrounds in software dev, cybersecurity, and blockchain. The team have been working together for over a decade across various industries including enterprise, research, application security, media & advertising, to name a few. We’re lucky to count our advisors as part of the team too. We work closely with them and many of them are founders in the space already so they know what works. Others are coming more from a data privacy and even a data buyer perspective, so we’ve got all angles covered.

SWASH sAPPs. You did say that developers who want to be a part of the next generation of data solutions can join the SWASH ecosystem by building SWASH applications (sAPPs). How may I join SWASH as a developer?

Chloë:
Great question! There will be a supportive environment where you will be able to access the tools, resources, and community needed to build the next generation of data solutions. Until then, you can reach out to the team directly either through our Telegram channel or [email protected].

When data becomes more valuable, how does the Swash system work? What is the page’s responsiveness as the number of users increases?

Chloë:
Data is unique in that the more of it there is, the more valuable it becomes. So, as the Swash community grows, so will the returns Swash members receive! The current application is very light and not burdened by scale, and this is a priority for the team when building the First Wave Solutions too.

I am really interested in your project. Where can I buy your tokens? Can you tell me the process?

Chloë:
Details will be announced soon! The best way to stay informed is to follow Swash on Telegram and Twitter and, for updates and to be prioritised for whitelisting, to subscribe to the newsletter.

Tell us a little bit about security? Have you done an audit of the platform? Are smart contracts error-free? What are the test results?

Chloë:
Yes, Swash has been successfully audited by CertiK. We will be sharing details along with more info on the token itself over the coming weeks.

About Swash:

Swash is an ecosystem of tools and services that enable people, businesses, and developers to unlock the latent value of data by pooling, securely sharing, and monetising its value.

People share their data to earn while retaining their privacy. Businesses access high-quality, zero-party data in a sustainable and compliant way. Developers set up and build systems within a collaborative development framework with ease.

Swash is reimagining data ownership by enabling all actors of the data economy to earn, access, build and collaborate in a liquid digital ecosystem for data.

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Originally published at https://swashapp.io on September 19, 2021.