As digital services become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, managing our personal data is becoming more and more important. A single click on an app, an online application, a healthcare service, or an insurance process can mean that our data is transferred and used by different organizations. The digital transition is making this data exchange increasingly common, while raising a fundamental question: Who is in control?

This is one of the issues at the heart of the European research project CONSENTIS – Identity and Consent Management for EU Digital and Data Strategies (GA: 101168011). The project is developing a framework that combines digital identity, consent management, and privacy-preserving technologies, with the goal of making the exchange of personal data safer, more transparent, and easier for users to understand.

The basic idea is simple: citizens should not simply “click ‘accept’,” but should be able to know who is requesting their data, what data is being requested, for what purpose, and for how long, while also having the ability to change or revoke their decision.

In this context, CONSENTIS leverages the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) approach, which gives users greater control over their digital identity and digital credentials. Through technologies such as digital wallets, Decentralized Identifiers, and Verifiable Credentials, users can verify specific information without having to share more personal data than is necessary.

At the same time, the project treats consent as a process that can be tracked and managed throughout the entire data usage cycle. Consent can be linked to a specific purpose, data, organization, and time frame, while related actions can be recorded in a way that enhances transparency and auditability. Thus, compliance with the European data protection framework, such as the GDPR, is not only viewed as a legal obligation but is also supported by technology.

These applications are particularly important in sectors where the exchange of sensitive data is a daily occurrence, such as healthcare and insurance. For example, a citizen could know exactly what health information an insurance company is requesting, approve or reject that specific request, and gain a better understanding of how their data is being used.

CONSENTIS is a highly interdisciplinary and industry-oriented European collaboration. The consortium includes 12 organizations from 9 European countries: two academic institutions, eight small and medium-sized enterprises, and two large industrial partners, with expertise in digital identity, cybersecurity, blockchain, data protection, consent management, and European law.

Cyprus’s participation in the project is particularly significant, as two Cypriot companies, Insuretics and ITML, are members of the consortium. This participation highlights the role of Cypriot companies in European research and innovation related to digital trust, security, and data management.

For more information about the project, please visit: https://consentis-project.eu/

Photo source: Associated Press