University of Nicosia Signs the World Economic Forum’s Presidio Principles, focused on Safeguarding User Rights built on Blockchain-based Technolgies

Establishing a Global Foundation of Values for a Decentralized Future

Institute For the Future (IFF) of University of Nicosia (UNIC) joins the likes of Deloitte, ConsenSys, Electric Coin Company, CoinShares and the United Nations’ World Food Program to name a few, as a signatory on the blockchain principles published by the World Economic Forum, the Presidio Principles. This ‘Blockchain Bill of Rights’ is intended as an aspirational steering document to establish a worldwide guideline for building Blockchain applications that protect and respect users and their rights.

The World Economic Forum Global Blockchain Council spent a year developing a baseline for these principles by bringing together stakeholders in technology and civil society, and offering up their perspectives on the current state of blockchain as well its future. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass adoption and incorporation of blockchain technologies across industries has only been accelerated, highlighting two key themes: 1) alignment between the public and private sectors and, 2) GDPR. For users, there is a grey area that exists in applications built on Blockchain-based technologies and in an effort to continue to protect participants’ rights, the Presidio Principles establishes four areas in which they should be preserved:

1. Transparency & Accessibility: the right to information about the system
   • Understand how a service is operated, including potential risks of the service, availability of source code, and the rules and standards upon which it is based
   • Understand the potential risks and benefits of a service’s use of blockchain technology
   • Understand system performance expectations and where the responsibility for service delivery lies
   • Understand the rights and obligations of different participants in the system
2. Agency & Interoperability: the right for participants to own and manage their data
   • Create, manage, and independently store cryptographic keys
   • Manage consent of data stored in third-party systems
   • Port data between interoperable systems or parts of a system
   • Revoke consent for future data collection system
   • Have access to information sufficient to facilitate system interoperability.
3. Privacy & Security: the right to data protection
   • Assess if their data is at risk through appropriate disclosure procedures, which may include, but are not limited to, an examination of audit results, certifications, or source code
   • Have their data protected in accordance with internationally recognized technical security standards
   • Limit data collection to that which is necessary and data use to the purpose for which it was provided
   • Verify – through third-party or self-created tools – that operations have been completed and confirmed in accordance with the system’s rules
4. ️Governance & Accountability: the right for participants to understand available recourse
   • Access information needed to: (a) understand the system’s governance and rules and (b) pursue effective recourse mechanisms
   • Opt-out of using applications that don’t treat data in accordance with internationally recognized governance and data protection standards
   • Rectify demonstrably false, inaccurate, or incomplete data when necessary

As Prof. George Giaglis, IFF Executive Director explained

“Data will be the future’s most valuable commodity and we must be preemptive in establishing a universal code ensuring that as technological advancements dominate the new way of life, user rights and privacy remain protected – this is why we signed the Presidio Principles. We are committed to shaping a better future.”

IFF encourages its members, community and wider networks to join these principles and sign on both as individuals and organisations.

For a full list of signatories, see here.