Blockchain-based system supports verified and transparent transactions to help consumers benefit from the value created from their personal data.

Gibraltar — February 21, 2019 — Wibson, the blockchain-based consumer data marketplace, has partnered with Telefónica to trial a data verification capability that validates the authenticity of consumer data in its system. Wibson allows individuals to securely and anonymously sell validated private information from their devices to advertisers and businesses in a trusted environment. In a trial that will initially cover Movistar users in Uruguay, Telefónica will serve as a notary, helping to verify Movistar subscriber status for consumers selling data through the Wibson marketplace. Telefónica, through its Wayra investment arm, invested in Wibson in 2018, alongside DGG Capital and Kenetic Capital.

Gonzalo Martin-Villa, Chief Innovation Officer of the Telefónica Group, said: "Blockchain not only allows us to work with new business models related to personal data. It gives us the opportunity to add a trust layer to operations and design new disruptive services.”

Chema Alonso, Chief Data Officer of Telefónica , said: “Data is fueling growth for the biggest companies in the world, but new models like Wibson's are emerging to reshape the space.”

Wibson CEO and Co-founder Mat Travizano said: “One of Wibson’s primary aims is to provide consumers with an easy way to be rewarded for the personal data they create every day. The notary feature ensures that data in the Wibson marketplace is always authentic, recent, and high quality. This is a big improvement from the way that traditional marketplaces and aggregators handle personal data today. We want to create a transparent and fair environment where consumers and data buyers, such as marketers and advertisers, are all treated fairly and can fully benefit from the free flow of data in the economy.”

Wibson supports consumers’ ability to sell their personal data directly to data buyers, such as technology platforms, advertisers, marketers, and academic and social-good researchers. In the Wibson marketplace, consumers decide when and to whom they sell their data based on transparent, market-driven offers that clearly outline the data requested, price, and intended use. Notaries serve as organizations that verify and validate personal data authenticity and arbitrate disputes in a fair and consistent manner.

Wibson CEO Mat Travizano is available to interview.

About Wibson:

Established in October of 2017, Wibson has created a decentralized, blockchain-based personal-data marketplace that provides infrastructure and financial incentives for individuals to securely sell private information that is validated for accuracy, all without sacrificing personal privacy. Wibson is a project from the team behind Grandata whose mission is to create a trusted universal data platform that maximizes value for both individuals and companies.

The Wibson token went live with the Wibson marketplace launch in October 2018 and has already supported more than 100,000 data transactions. To date, more than one million WIBs have been used in such transactions by the Wibson community. The company has received funding from DGG Capital, Kenetic Capital, and Telefónica’s investment arm, Wayra, among other industry-leading investors.

About Movistar:

Movistar is a major telecommunications brand owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and in many Latin American countries. It is the largest mobile phone operator in Spain with 22 million customers and 41.58% of market share, where it also markets landline, broadband and pay television. Telefónica’s mission is to deliver the best technology to our customers. To achieve this we offer easy-to-use products and services, which offer a variety of options for our customers, including fixed line, mobile, broadband, and television.