Really knowing your customer involves mutual understanding, and earned trust. The following scenario illustrates how Lichen can provide both retailers and customers better stewardship of data that encompasses in-store, web, mobile and voice transactions.
MyLichenCollection
Once it’s launched, Lichen will generate interesting new data for omnichannel awareness—but with a twist. Each user will control access to their own transaction data collection.
Under the exclusive control of each user, as determined by a given identity—an archive algorithm would operate in the background on each device to maintain a confidential, immutable user-searchable record of all Lichen-mediated algorithm activity that has taken place under that user’s identity.
As this service is linked to identity rather than device, it would function seamlessly across all of the particular user identity’s Lichen-assisted transactions, whether in-store, web, mobile or voice. The encrypted data would be stored at a user-determined location, which could either be self-identified or chosen from a list of accredited commercial cloud-storage services.
MyLichenCollection has four purposes:
- Provide users access to immediate ad-hoc verification;
- Supply transaction data to the user’s electronic accounting systems;
- Serve as documentary evidence to support audits and dispute resolutions;
- Generate a store of valuable information that the user can choose to sell under a Bid4MyData contract (see below), or any other channel the user prefers.
Bid4MyData
Once it’s launched, Lichen will fuel new opportunities in 2-way omnichannel marketing.
Marcela has long believed in the potential for market synergy in connecting privacy interests of citizens with business interests in capturing data to optimize market performance. Now with the emergence of an Internet of Rules, she has subscribed to the “BuyMyData” rule through Lichen so that as a consumer of goods and services, she can position herself as a vendor of the part of retail transactions data over which, based on the laws that apply where she lives, the customer holds legal prerogative.
When she subscribed to this rule, she was also offered the “Bid4MyData” option. With this option she can choose to exchange access to her data through an automated bidding system. The more data Marcela makes available to the merchant, the greater compensation she expects in the form of discounts, points, or some other sort of benefit.
At first she was not sure what compensation to expect, so she was glad that the rule can be set up for a limited period of time. That provided her a comfortable learning period. She’s aware that the whole topic of what businesses may and may not do with customer transaction data is controversial. Initially she selected the profile: “I’m secretive like a jaguar”. But some weeks later, and after taking the time to read the details about how the settings would affect her privacy and confidentiality interests, she decided to go for greater compensation benefits, and she change her profile to “I’m tolerant like a hamster”. Her son, meanwhile, went straight to: “I’m sociable like a labrador” without bothering with the fine print. She told him that was unwise, but he seemed pleased with the points he was provided, which went towards his new smartphone contract.
