NUGGETS》 TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR DATA

NUGGETS ENABLES PEOPLE TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF THEIR DATA

Nuggets is a consumer blockchain platform with the power to revolutionise payment, privacy and security. It puts personal data back in control of individuals, enabling ‘self-sovereign identity’ on a mass scale. And it solves the biggest single headache for businesses: data security.

Nuggets was inspired by its Founder’s personal experience of having his payment details used fraudulently – and the complicated, frustrating process that ensued. Nuggets solves this problem, using zero knowledge storage, encryption, privacy, security and trust, all combined with the immutable ledger that’s decentralised. This creates an entirely new, blockchain-enabled platform for making simple e-commerce payments without having to sacrifice control of their personal data.

PERSONAL DATA IS ABUSED AND AT RISK

• Merchant and business databases are prime targets for breaches

• Personal data is routinely used and abused by businesses

SECURITY OF PERSONAL DATA

• Stolen payment card details

• Stolen identity information

MANUALLY UPDATING 100+ LOCATIONS

• Replacing expired credit cards

• Adding new payment cards

• Changing address details

PASSWORDS ARE NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE

• Dozens of sites = dozens of vulnerable passwords

• Hard to remember and manage

• Many people stick to the same one

SOLVING THE PRIVACY CRISIS

These days, the average person has sensitive personal data – emails, payment card details, home addresses, passwords – stored with over 100 online accounts. And that’s set to double in the next five years.

At the same time, there are almost daily reports of data hacks and breaches, often involving millions of sensitive customer records. Earlier this year, for example, credit monitoring firm Equifax made news around the globe after hackers stole the personal details of 143 million Americans – almost half the US population. These details included Social Security numbers and birth dates: invaluable information for identity fraud. Equifax admitted that 400,000 UK records had also been illegally accessed in the same incident.

Regulation is tougher than ever. Starting May 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) demands data minimisation, and allows for much harsher penalties than the UK current Data Protection Act. Fines can run to 4% of annual global turnover, or €20 million – whichever is greater. The US Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C §§41-58) is a federal consumer protection law that permits the Federal Trade Commission to bring legal actions against organizations that have violated consumers’ privacy rights, or misled them by failing to maintain security for sensitive consumer information.

A PERFECT STORM. AN IDEAL OPPORTUNITY

Data security is in a critical state. Hacks and data breaches have compromised billions of personal records in 2017 alone. Sometimes in a single incident.
Fraud and ‘false positive’ card declines cost companies millions in lost revenue and passed up revenue.
Regulations are tougher than ever, with the upcoming introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the US Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. §§41-58), among others.
The average user has 100+ online accounts – and that’s set to double in five years.
We’ll all have biometrics on our smartphones by the end of 2018.
Technological advances. Ethereum blockchain, zero knowledge storage and the immutable ledger make a solution possible. Nuggets is that solution.

HOW NUGGETS WORKS

Instead of handing sensitive personal information to companies, to store in vulnerable databases, Nuggets encrypts personal information in zero knowledge storage in a blockchain.

That zero knowledge storage is essential to Nuggets. The user is the only person who can access the encrypted data

– so there is no ‘backdoor’ through which third parties could access users’ information. Compare this to most modern storage systems, where there is usually a root-level admin access, which could be compromised.

All Nuggets transactions are encrypted and stored in an immutable ledger with inherent trust principles, which validate trust in both the consumer and the merchant. Every successful transaction is stored in a transparent manner – without revealing the contents or the context – through the use of a privacy framework. Over time, this builds a trust profile that shows the user is a good actor in the network and that their payment methods are good. The retailer also has to demonstrate that they are a good actor in the network too.

THE FUNDAMENTALS FOR CONSUMERS

Nuggets of personal data that only you own and control are encrypted in zero knowledge storage in a blockchain.
Transactions are encrypted, and use an immutable ledger with inherent trust principles, to validate trust in both consumer and retailer.
Get Nuggets Tokens when you sign up, refer, pay, login or verify and if you choose to share information.
Use Nuggets Tokens to purchase products and use the services you love.
Nuggets Tokens put genuine value on your information, which you can use for products and services.

NUGGETS AND SHOPPING ONLINE

Shopping online is simpler and safer with Nuggets. Once you’ve chosen your items, you just choose the Nuggets option at checkout. This effectively logs you in, and the site pings your Nuggets app so that you can verify the transaction with your biometrics.

That completes the payment, and your package is on the way. You don’t have to give your address (unless you wish to): we send a GPS location to the courier company. To accept the package, you simply confirm your identity when the courier pings your Nuggets app upon delivery.

USER ONBOARDING PROCESS

Nuggets is simple for consumers to sign up for and use: a critical feature in ensuring the platform’s success.

Once a user has signed up to the platform, transactions become as simple as selecting “Nuggets” (like any other payment service) and supplying biometrics in the app. No usernames, no passwords, no data to type in. Watch a video of the process.

Onboarding is a simple, one-off process:

1. Sign up using biometrics (no usernames or passwords)

2. Provide a photo ID

3. Take a selfie, which is compared to the photo ID for verification

4. Add a payment method, and enter the security code

5. Tap VALIDATE

This process verifies the consumer as a trusted Nuggets user. Retailers know they can trust that user’s transactions – and that trust profile becomes stronger with every successful transaction. But retailers never have to store the user’s information.

Nuggets acts as a validated proof of the person, their identity and their payment method. This also covers the merchant’s requirement for Know Your Customer (KYC), but without storing or revealing private information to third parties.

TECHNOLOGY

Nuggets’ technology is split into three distinct layers:

1. Biometrics: confirms user identity (without storing)

2. Data encryption: keeps data private

3. Blockchain: stores encrypted data in tamper-proof form

Combining these technologies allows us more control than a central corporate server to the user’s device. Biometrics allow Nuggets to verify the user on their device, without retaining the required data outside the device. The Nuggets software enables the device to be used in this way, and the encryption itself is done on the user’s device. That means the user is in sole control of who can decrypt the data.

Finally, blockchain ensures that we are not dependent on any one entity (including Nuggets itself) for storing or maintaining the integrity of the data – which means they also can’t compromise it.

BLOCK CHAIN

The blockchain in Nuggets is used to ensure that the underlying storage of the nuggets of information is not controlled and cannot be removed/destroyed by any one party. The blockchain also provides a platform for the Nuggets token.

Nuggets is issuing an ERC-20/223 token on the Ethereum public blockchain network to power the underlying transactions. Ethereum has always been the platform of choice for Nuggets, although the data storage architecture is in place to evolve to future versions of Ethereum, or any other blockchain platform, as scalability improvements are made.

To avoid undue load on the current public Ethereum network, data storage aspects of the Nuggets solution will initially be hosted in a private / consortium / sidechain / channel. Nodes will be distributed to a set of independent partners in the Nuggets ecosystem. Each node will hold a copy of the data, but that data will not be accessible to anyone but the user, thanks to the encryption. All users will have visibility / transparency of ledger integrity, and the side chain /channel will be pegged to the public Ethereum network. As the public blockchain becomes more scalable, and/or improved scalability options become available (e.g. Polkadot, Raiden channels or sharding), Nuggets will look to adopt these to provide a more trustless solution.

TOKEN ECOSYSTEM

Nuggets Tokens

At its heart, Nuggets is a Tokenized system. A Nuggets user will accrue Nuggets Tokens (NUG) from day one, by downloading the app and using the platform in various ways.

Building up Nuggets Tokens

Users will receive Nuggets Tokens as a reward when they sign up, refer someone, to Nuggets, log in, make a payment or verify their ID. They will also receive Nuggets Tokens if they choose to share certain “nuggets” of their private data.

Value your information

Currently, users routinely give away their valuable information to dozens of companies, in return for using the services they loved. But Nuggets Tokens will put a real value on that information, reflecting the enormous value it has to companies.

Using Nuggets Tokens

Consumers can use their Nuggets Tokens to buy physical and digital products and services from Nuggets-enabled merchants. So Nuggets Tokens have genuine value.

BUSINESS: BANKS, CARD SCHEMES, AND RETAILERS AND THEIR USER BASES

We will launch with universally trusted, frequently-used payment providers and retail partners – including those with a history of data breaches that need to recover trust with their user base. These brands are on a journey of transformation, as they proactively address the data security crisis and aim to reduce fraud, at the same time as offering more efficient tools for their consumers.

The more partners we sign up, more users we can convert into Nuggets users. We’ll use the member-get-member and sign-up incentives described earlier to drive customer conversion at launch.

Partnership criteria

NUGGETS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH FOUR MAIN SOURCES:

For consumers: through apps

1. The Google Play Store for Android devices

2. The App Store for iOS devices

For business: through APIs

3. Banks and card schemes

4. Partner retailer sites: alongside current payment methods

TOKEN SALE FUNDING

Once the platform is launched, the ecosystem will focus primarily on creating a network effect amongst retailers and users, and on attracting more participants to the platform. To that end, Nuggets intends to sell 35% of all Nuggets Tokens (NUG) during its pre-sale and public Nuggets Token sale to fund platform development, partnerships, platform launch and commercialization of Nuggets.

Nuggets intends to set aside 30% of all Nuggets Tokens as incentives, and for use in the ecosystem. Nuggets intends to keep 15% of Nuggets Tokens as long-term reserves with a one-year lock up, and 15% for Nuggets employees with a two-year lock up, and 50% vesting after one year.

Nuggets intends to reserve another 5% of the Nuggets Tokens for legal, regulatory, and miscellaneous costs leading up to the platform launch in each market.

PURCHASING NUGGETS TOKENS

Buyers will be able to purchase Nuggets Tokens with BTC, ETH and USD, starting in the pre-sale, which is scheduled for launch on October 24th, 2017. This is open to non-US residents. The pre-sale has a minimum purchase of $10,000 if purchasing with USD, no minimum for BTC / ETH purchases and no maximum purchase.

35% of the Nuggets Tokens will be allocated to the Token Sale. Tokens will be available for a 20% discount in the pre-sale. The public sale is scheduled to start in Q1 2018. In total, Nuggets intends to raise funds at a USD $30 million hard cap.

The Token Sale will run for 30 days from the launch of the Public Token Sale or until a maximum number of tokens has been sold, whichever is sooner.

The proceeds from the token sale will fund continued platform development, partnerships, launch and commercialization of Nuggets.