Swash x Certik AMA Recap

Swash CMO, Chloë Diamond was joined by the host Michael over at the Certik Discord channel to discuss all things data, surf to earn, and of course, any new releases coming up for Swash; giving an insider’s glimpse into the new age of data economy to the Certik community.

Earlier this week, Swash had the opportunity to host a community AMA with Certik, a pioneer in blockchain security, utilising best-in-class Formal Verification and AI technology to secure and monitor blockchains, smart contracts, and Web3 app.

Swash CMO, Chloë Diamond was joined by the host Michael over at the Certik Discord channel to discuss all things data, surf to earn, and of course, any new releases coming up for Swash; giving an insider’s glimpse into the new age of data economy to the Certik community.

In case you may have missed the live AMA session you can find the full AMA transcript below.

Michael:

Hey everyone let us all give a warm welcome to Chloe Diamond from the Swash team!

Chloë:

Thanks Michael. Hi all!

Michael:

Could you introduce yourself and give us a brief intro as well on Swash? For those who are not aware.

Chloë:

Sure. I’m Chloe, CMO at Swash. As a core product, Swash is solving the imbalance of current data collection and sale practices across the globe. With each scroll, search or click, both you and I (and everyone listening in) create hundreds and thousands of data points that, to no surprise, are becoming very valuable to advertisers and other companies.

I mean, even from the way each of us uses our search engine alone, we leave a lot of information about our interests and more. The issue is, we are currently creating and somewhat willingly giving out all this information for free… User data is collected, and sold without their explicit consent.

Simply put, Swash is flipping the script — with our browser extension, people can not only agree to their data being captured, but they can also get rewarded for it in our ecosystem token, $SWASH. It’s a super easy way to get their share of the profits made from their data without changing their habits.

The extension works in the background and is available on all major browsers.

Additionally, we are also releasing other products and features that allow our users to earn more.Earlier this year, we uncovered that if the public is rewarded for their ad-attention, so basically anytime they see an ad, they get paid, the tables really turn in terms of the ad-engagement that advertisers see.

It’s a win-win situation — advertisers get a really engaged audience so they don’t feel like their performance marketing efforts are costing a fortune and results are minimal, and the people are happy to earn more for their time and attention.

Michael:

It’s actually amazing that people can finally gain something from the data they give away for free, most of the time unknowingly.

Can you explain how Swash ensures the privacy and security of user data? As we don’t want all that data going in the wrong hands.

Chloë:

Transparency sits at the core of our objective and mission. Unlike many other apps, browsers or search engines, Swash obtains clear and explicit consent from users before collecting their data, clearly explaining the purpose and duration of data processing.

On the backend, Swash implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect user data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

We have established clear and compliant data processing agreements with the partners we work with. We have a robust incident response plan in place to detect, respond to, and recover from data breaches, conduct DPIAs for high-risk data processing activities that involve systematic monitoring or large-scale processing of sensitive personal data and of course, we conduct periodic audits and assessments to evaluate our organisation’s compliance with GDPR standards.

Michael:

Others should take your example.. just saying.

Could you tell us what are the benefits of using Swash for individuals and businesses?

Chloë:

Ah, I may have given much of this away in the beginning… But to delve a little deeper:

Swash is a project that operates from both a B2C and B2B perspective.

For our users, it’s a browser extension that allows individuals to surf and earn. In turn, providing businesses with incentivised zero-party data.

The Swash platform offers a unique solution for users to earn rewards by sharing information that they would otherwise be giving away for free with businesses.

On the B2B side, Swash provides data intelligence and advertising solutions to businesses by leveraging the incentivised zero-party data it collects.

70% of the profits made from these services is credited back to the users. In this way, Swash empowers both individuals and businesses to take advantage of the value of data in hope of creating what can be considered a better and fairer data economy

Michael:

This is a really cool concept. I don’t think there have been such products that strive to create a “better and fairer data economy”.

Chloë:

Thanks! It’s important — it affects all of us.

Michael:

How does Swash handle data ownership and control, and what rights do users have over their data?

Chloë:

First of all, we collect data that would already be automatically collected by users’ search engines or browsers. However, the difference is we communicate that with our users and give them the opportunity to monitor and control what data they would like to share through the ‘Data’ tab within the Swash extension.

That, plus rewarding them for their contributions. Additionally, each user is able to take advantage of the text masking feature, enabling them to block out any key words or numbers they wouldn’t like to be collected, stored, and shared.

Michael:

It’s really cool that you offer users a way to filter which data gets collected, as they might want some of it to remain private.

Can you provide examples of the types of data that Swash collects and how it is used?

Chloë:

Of course. Swash captures search and clickstream data, which is basically the type of data that gets collected when you surf the web. This is data you are already sharing with companies, usually obtained by using third-party cookies.

As Swash users give explicit consent to sharing their data, doesn’t rely on unsustainable practices like third-party cookies, and captures data directly from users and not via third party intermediaries, the data is known as zero-party data.

This data is then used for a multitude of things, including gathering market intelligence insights for businesses, assessing your competitive landscape, behavioural analysis, delivering a more personalised experience to customers, training AI and ML models, to name a few.

Michael:

Awesome! Thank you for that!

Could you tell us what measures does Swash take to comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR?

Chloë:

We prioritise being GDPR compliant and ensuring we operate in conjunction with the most current best practices for data. The model has also completed a lot of third-party compliance checks such as the CPPA in California and the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Information Commissioner’s Office here in the UK.

This ensures that data is being handled in the proper manner from a GDPR perspective. Along with explicit consent and transparency, we also ensure that our users are well-informed about their data rights and how Swash works, which has so far been great for our growing community of 350K+ happy users.

Michael:

That’s great! Also, congrats on the great amount of users you have!

Chloë:

Thank you!

Michael:

Can you explain the process of earning and redeeming rewards through Swash, and what types of rewards are available? As I suppose many people here would like to try it out.

Chloë:

Happy to! The process of earning with Swash is really simple. All it takes is to download the extension, sign up and you’re ready to go.

Swash users browse as they usually would, and aside from having a cheeky look to see their rewards balance, they don’t really need to open the extension ever again. The browser extension works in the background so there is no worrying whether it is still switched on or not.

Additionally, as mentioned before, we have also recently released an additional ad product called sAds (Swash Ads). If and when a user decides to opt-in to sAds, they will begin to earn even more $SWASH tokens as a reward for their ad-attention. The ads are non-intrusive and can be switched off at any time.

We aim to give our users as many opportunities to earn easily as possible. Another product currently in the pipeline is a survey feature which will allow users to be paired with surveys relevant to them, and to amplify their earnings by sharing their opinions. Without giving away too much, our survey feature is currently in testing and going really well. We have just partnered up with a huge survey provider so the development is going really well.

We hope to make further progress announcements on this soon — I encourage anyone who’s interested to install the app or join our chat on Discord to be the first to know.

Michael:

That’s really nice, people can install the extension and forget about it… By the time they remember about it they would have a generous amount of rewards to claim.

Chloë:

Exactly!

Michael:

Also, quick question, are sAds part of the extension, or how does that work?

Chloë:

Yes, sAds are part of the extension. When you have the Swash app installed, you can opt-in to receive ads by clicking on the ‘Earn More’ option in the navigation bar.

Then, when you open a new tab or search the web, you’ll see Swash ads either as a full screen takeover on your new tab or within your search results.You can also customise your full tab view (on all browsers) which is really fun! More details can be found here.

Michael:

Awesome! Thanks for the clarification!

Could you tell us what are the requirements for using Swash and are there any limitations or restrictions?

Chloë:

The Swash extension is super accessible. It’s available on all major desktop browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Brave. It also works on the Kiwi Android Mobile browser and is available worldwide! Swash mobile app is in the works but, until then, you can install it on your desktop.

Michael:

Accessibility is key! Great to see that you offer a great variety of support.

Now, moving on to my last question before we let the audience ask their questions.

Are there any community-led initiatives or projects that have been supported or sponsored by Swash?

Chloe:

I think the most important one has certainly been the launch of the Swash DAO. As of last week, DAO members have been able to put up their own proposals to the community vote and in the past few months a lot of fruitful conversations and ideas started from the DAO.

We also often hold sprints on Zealy (formerly Crew3) — a platform that enables users to complete quests in return for XP. Zealy has been a really impressive tool to keep the community engaged and helped with increased activity.

Galaxy which is well known within the web3 space is also another platform we hope to start utilising soon and we always have our eyes open for anything that we feel the community would enjoy, benefit from using and of course we welcome suggestions directly from the community on what they would like to see as well.

Michael:

Yeah, Zealy is great, we use it as well!

Thank you Chloe for the very informative answers.

Now it’s time for the audience questions, please reply to five questions of your choice!

I will enable audience questions now. Make sure to be quick as they won’t be enabled for long!

Chloë:

Great, I’m ready

BONUS COMMUNITY QUESTIONS

nguQ:

How did you involve the community in developing the project? How do you build a strong community to grow globally?

Chloë:

We have been building in public pretty much since day one, so our community have been right there with us using the Swash app, giving their feedback, and spreading the word. The app has been live since late 2019, so we have a bunch of OG community members still with us! As for building a strong community globally, our focus is simply on delivering awesome products. Then, word of mouth and referrals from our existing user base work magic.

Nalaka:

How easier will your platform be accessible for Newbies? Most platforms have complicated UI nowadays! So will you be having a smooth and easier UI for new users too?

Chloë:

I like to think our UI is really simple and user-friendly already, although we’re always working on new ways to make Swash even easier to use for non-crypto-savvy users.

Our brand is really important to us and we want to make sure everyone feels welcome — UI is a huge part of that. If you have feedback, please share it with us in our Discord.

Michael:

Thank you Chloë

Chloë:

Thank you, that was so fun!

Micheal:

Glad you enjoyed it!

It was a pleasure having you here.

Chloë:

Thanks for having me :)

About Swash

Know your worth and earn for being you, online.

Swash is an online earning portal where you can earn up to $200 per month for being active and completing tasks online. Whether you’re surfing the web, seeing ads, or sharing opinions, you deserve to be thanked for your efforts.

New ways to amp up your earnings are added to Swash every month!

Alongside the Swash earning dashboard, Swash consists of a wide network of interlinking collaborators including:

• brands that publish ads with Swash Ads
• businesses that buy and analyse data with sIntelligence
• data scientists who build models with sCompute
• developers who innovate on the Swash stack
• charities who receive your donations with Data for Good

Swash has completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment with the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK and is an accredited member of the Data & Marketing Association.

Nothing herein should be viewed as legal, tax or financial advice and you are strongly advised to obtain independent legal, tax or financial advice prior to buying, holding or using digital assets, or using any financial or other services and products. There are significant risks associated with digital assets and dealing in such instruments can incur substantial risks, including the risk of financial loss. Digital assets are by their nature highly volatile and you should be aware that the risk of loss in trading, contributing, or holding digital assets can be substantial.

Reminder: Be aware of phishing sites and always make sure you are visiting the official https://swashapp.io website. Swash will never ask you for confidential information such as passwords, private keys, seed phrases, or secret codes. You should store this information privately and securely and report any suspicious activity.