IBM, Mastercard, R3 Join Data Privacy Project, ToIP; Launched by the Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation has engaged in the ToIP Foundation project, which is a new cross-industry alliance looking to provide the safe exchange of internet data.

The announcement was made on Tuesday. The ToIP coalition includes many nonprofits and governments in the industries of healthcare, finance and enterprise software. Its founding members are IBM Security, Mastercard and Accenture, all members of the blockchain R3 consortium, which also includes the online platform for lending Kiva and the University of Arkansas. Another R3 consortium founding member is also the Province of British Colombia.

Secure and Privacy-Preserving Ecosystems

The R3’s head of digital identity, Abbas Ali, explained how the R3 is very committed to develop secure and digital identity privacy-preserving ecosystem. He noted how the R3 open source blockchain platform known as Corda can unlock the transactions labeled as private. Here are his exact words on this:

“Our Corda platform is designed to enable private transactions, and by incorporating the work of the ToIP Foundation, we can develop solutions uniquely suitable for self-sovereignty in the digital world.”

However, Corda won’t be implemented within the ToIP. Ali had this to say about the matter:

“R3 is supporting the industry initiative and ensuring Corda works with the standards that are coming out of the ToIP foundation/standards that are being defined or set by ToIP.”

The Internet Was Missing a Digital Trust Layer

Jim Zemlin, the executive director at the Linux Foundation, said the new initiative is trying to ensure the data exchange is verifiable and that the digital identity exchange takes place at a whole new level. He added that the ToIP’s Foundation’s mission is to provide the digital trust layer missing on the internet, while triggering a new era of possibilities.

In other words, ToIP plans to help businesses manage and protect their data or digital assets in a very complex enterprise environment that involves the use of systems such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Digital identity models using credentials and interoperable digital wallets are going to be employed for this. There are many protocols and initiatives trying to solve the matter of digital privacy, not to mention some experts believe the blockchain didn’t deliver too much when it comes to this issue.