Questions and Answers

The name polypoly is derived from the economic term »polypole«. In a polypole, there are many suppliers and many consumers, i.e. the opposite of a monopoly and an oligopoly. In our vision of a decentralised data economy, there are no data monopolists or data oligarchs and each individual user can act as a provider of data – a polypole for data.

Our goal is to build a decentralised infrastructure for personal data that allows you to access, store, manage, use, share, rent and make your data available for analysis. For the latter, the unused computing power of your device is used. And if you don't want to allow access to your data, just rent out your computing power.

The app with which you can do all this in the future is the polyPod, which we are developing together and with the financial support of our cooperative members and investors.

Companies have the opportunity to provide features and services for the polyPod. In this way, a »super app« is gradually being created in which you will find an alternative to all the great digital services that you enjoy the use of today. Just much better tailored to your needs and without you ever losing control over your data.

It is always you who decides who knows what about you, polypoly never has access to your data.

polypoly wants to unite the interests of citizens, economic actors and legislators. For this reason there are three companies.

polypoly Cooperative

The polypoly Cooperative is a European cooperative (SCE) because we believe that there is a need for a European approach to a citizen-centred data economy and because we want to involve all Europeans. All members have the same decision-making rights and weighting, regardless of the amount of shares purchased.

The polypoly Cooperative has a monistic structure. This means that there is a decision-making body (general assembly) and a management body (governing board). One or more managing directors are appointed within the governing board. The other members of the governing board exercise the control function.

Currently (as of summer 2022), the governing board consists of 4 members – 1 of whom is Executive Director.

You can find more information in our imprint and in our statutes in §14-25.

The current number of members, or private investors, as we call them, can be found here: https://polypoly-citizens.eu/en/becomepart.

polypoly Enterprise

The polypoly Enterprise is a limited liability company and is managed by a managing director.

polypoly Foundation

The foundation is a non-profit limited liability company (gGmbH) and is currently (summer 2022) represented by a polypoly shareholder.

Would you like to learn more about the three companies behind polypoly? Then visit the website of the polypoly Cooperative and the polypoly Enterprise

polypoly Cooperative:
Initially financed by European citizens who participate with cooperative shares, investors giving loans and partner cooperatives that donate cooperative shares to their members. Later on, funding is provided by transaction fees, which are charged whenever users are paid by companies and institutions for the provision of computing power and/or data, especially for analytical purposes.

polypoly Enterprise GmbH:
In the current phase, the Enterprise is financed by investors and contract development. Later on, it will be financed by data analysis and transaction fees, which will be charged whenever users are paid for the provision of computing power and/or data, especially for analysis purposes by companies and institutions.

polypoly Foundation:
The Foundation is financed by donations and later additionally by user fees for polyPedia.

Currently, a team of 40+ people scattered around the globe is passionately developing the new data economy. You won't find pompous titles here; each team member contributes his or her unique expertise. We have responsibilities, but no hierarchies. Only in this way can we develop the passion and enthusiasm needed to bring our vision to life.

With our GDPR data importers, as part of polyPod, the data that data oligarchs such as Facebook and Google have collected about you can be downloaded and analysed.

The GDPR Data Importers contain detailed instructions on how to request your own data set from the relevant data oligarchs and make it available in polyPod. Currently, the Facebook Data Importer shows summaries and initial analyses, for example your advertising value, derived from which companies share data about you with Facebook and a general overview of your own activities on Facebook itself.

In subsequent versions, there will also be a specialised tool to explore the data in detail; friend lists and advertisers included.

Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to find out what Facebook knows about you if you do not have a Facebook account.

More information about the Facebook and Google Data Importers can be found here:

https://polypoly.net/en/blog/what-is-the-facebook-data-importer-en/

In principle, all EU citizens can become members of the polypoly Cooperative if they are over 18 years old and do not hold US citizenship. In addition, we would also like to make it possible for people who reside in an EU country and have a permanent residence permit to become members of the cooperative. In some cases, however, this requires further steps to verify the membership application.

For individuals who have non-EU citizenship in addition to EU citizenship, we reserve the right to conduct a more extensive review of the membership application. If you have US citizenship in addition to European citizenship, you unfortunately cannot become a member. The reason for this is that US law allows its citizens to sue the cooperative in a US court instead of in a European court, and we must protect the cooperative from this in the interests of our members.

Rights / Duties:
All members have the same rights and obligations. Each member has only one vote, regardless of how many shares a member holds. They will be invited to the general assembly meetings and can participate in voting. They can also simply be a silent member, however they feel most comfortable.

Here you can find our statutes: https://polypoly-citizens.eu/en/statute

View shares:
We are working on such a possibility, but we still need some time. Until then, please send us an email with your membership number to hello@polypoly.coop and we will help you as soon as possible.

Increase shares:
If you decide to subscribe to more shares, simply buy more shares through our website. As soon as you enter the same email address you used to subscribe, new shares will automatically be added to your membership account.

You can increase your shares here: https://polypoly-citizens.eu/en/becomepart

The best way to support polypoly is to become a shareholder and tell your friends, relatives and acquaintances about polypoly and give them vouchers for shares as a gift. Because the more members we have, the more we can achieve.
Become a member

If you want to spread the word about polypoly and need information material, you are welcome to use our Supporter Kit. In it you will find visuals, texts and flyers about polypoly.

Would you like to join us as a future team member? You can find our vacancies here: https://polypoly.jobs.personio.de/

You could imagine supporting polypoly as an advisor? You can find more information here: Advisors

Technical information about our polyPod can be found here: https://polypoly.net/en/blog/whitepaper-in-pod-we-trust-our-technological-centrepiece/

If you would like to join us on Github and / or become part of the community and become a contributor, you will find more info here: https://polypoly-citizens.eu/en/contribute/cla/

Our vision relies on the power of the masses. Only with a healthy network of partners from all sectors can the data economy work fairly. We look forward to hearing from you if you want to implement an idea with us. We always have an open ear: hello@polypoly.net

Examples of existing partnerships:

• Various universities, such as TU Darmstadt and others. Focus is on technology, security and law.
• Multiplier concept: Recruitment of many members for the polypoly cooperative. polypoly cooperates with partner cooperatives.
• Participation in the HEALTH-X dataLOFT project. Cooperation with other partners in the European GAIA-X project on technical solutions in the field of health.

More information here:

https://polypoly.net/en/blog/health-x-dataloft-souveranitat-fur-patientinnen-en/

https://polypoly.net/en/blog/do-you-know-gaia-x/

As far as we know, there are no direct market competitors as of today (summer 2022).

There are certainly approaches here and in other parts of the world that have a few things in common with our idea, but the technical and organisational approach differs significantly. Not all projects share the philosophy of unrestricted data sovereignty for citizens.

An algorithm is a kind of recipe, a sequence of instructions within a program: do this, then that, and if that equals that, then do that too. They can be used both positively and negatively. Data-driven companies treat their algorithms the way Coca Cola treats its closely guarded recipe. Algorithms evaluate and control our lives, ever more comprehensively, ever more inescapably and ever more intransparently. That’s why it’s all the more important to uncover and understand how they work.

Algorithms and our polyPod: Companies can use algorithms sent to the polyPods of the data producers to collect data insights without the personal data of the data producers leaving the polyPod.

Big data is when data is analysed that is simply too large or too complex to be processed with conventional data processing software. This is data that exceeds the order of magnitude of terabytes and gigabytes. It is difficult for us to store such a huge amount of data with traditional applications.

The current use of the term »Big Data« usually refers to analytics to predict certain events or even behaviours. By analysing data, correlations can be found, for example, to identify business trends, prevent diseases, fight crime or even influence elections. Big data is a really powerful tool.

A clearing house is a specialised firm that acts as an intermediary between two parties involved in a financial transaction. In transactions on the financial market, money is often not transferred immediately from one account to another because, for example, assets have to be liquidated and transactions completed beforehand. To monitor the transfer of money between the parties involved, a clearing house takes over the sale after it has been completed. If either party defaults, the clearinghouse transfers collateral and ensures that ownership is in the hands of the right person.

A data silo is information and data stock that is stored in special locations to which only certain persons have access.

Data silos are very common in companies, as data are often stored independently of each other, sometimes multiple times and without mutual knowledge, in different areas of the company. Data oligarchs, such as Facebook and Co., also have their own data silos. In other words, large databases of user data stored on servers.

People who continuously produce personal data, for example through the use devices, services or applications. Depending on the perspective, data producer can be synonymous with citizen, user, customer, member or even interested party. It is important to note that in the context of polypoly, we are always talking about natural persons.

In the context of polypoly, the term data consumer primarily refers to a legal entity, e.g. a company, institution, authority or even entire state. Data consumers need personal data to maintain their business processes (e.g. billing, customer communication), to target and optimise advertising measures, and to develop innovations, products and services.

Edge computing, in contrast to cloud computing, refers to decentralised data processing at the edge of the network - the so-called edge - meaning on end devices. This is often associated with smartphones and computers, but game consoles, smart TVs, cars, etc. are also end devices that are suitable for edge computing.

This is an artificial term that combines the two terms Edge Computing and Data Ecosystem.

Edge computing, in contrast to cloud computing, refers to decentralised data processing at the edge of the network - the so-called edge - meaning on end devices. This is often associated with smartphones and computers, but game consoles, smart TVs, cars, etc. are also end devices that are suitable for edge computing. 

Simply put, a Data Ecosystem is a platform that combines data from numerous providers and adds value by using the processed data. A successful ecosystem balances two priorities:

• Scaling by attracting participants via lower barriers to entry. In addition, the ecosystem must create clear customer value and dependencies beyond the core product to establish high barriers to exit in the long term.
• Building a cooperation network that motivates a large number of parties with similar interests (e.g. app developers) to join forces and pursue similar goals. One of the main advantages of the ecosystem is the participation of several categories of actors (e.g. app developers and app users).

A company's data capital includes all the data it owns, such as customer data, employee and supplier data, transactional data, etc. The more data the company has and the more detailed it is, the more it is worth and the higher the data capital.

In simple terms, a Data Ecosystem is a platform that combines data from numerous providers and adds value by leveraging the processed data. A successful ecosystem balances two priorities:

• Scaling by attracting participants through lower barriers to entry. In addition, the ecosystem must create clear customer value and dependencies beyond the core product to establish high barriers to exit in the long term.
• Building a cooperation network that motivates a large number of parties with similar interests (e.g. app developers) to join forces and pursue similar goals. One of the main advantages of the ecosystem is the participation of several categories of actors (e.g. app developers and app users).

The data economy is a global digital ecosystem in which data is collected and exchanged to make money. The data is stored and evaluated. For example, search engines, social media, payment providers, as well as numerous other companies operating on the internet, act as data collectors.

A data economy can be centralised (data is stored on central servers and a few companies have power over all the data) or decentralised (data is stored on many individual devices and many have power over different parts of the data). polypoly is developing the technology for a decentralised data economy with the polyPod.

AI (artificial intelligence) is usually used to describe the attempt to emulate human decision-making structures by building and programming a machine, such as a computer, so that it can handle problems relatively independently. However, it is also sometimes used to refer to the imitation of intelligence. For example, through algorithms that simulate intelligent behaviour. This often happens in computer games, for example.

Federated AI – or federated learning - describes a technique in the field of machine learning in which a model (the AI) is trained on data from several devices. Each participating device has its own local data set that is not shared with other participants – differently from traditional machine learning where there is a central dataset.

Through this technique, multiple participants build a common, robust model, taking into account critical issues such as privacy, data security, access rights and access to heterogeneous data. The technique is applied in many fields such as defence, telecommunications, the Internet of Things and healthcare.

A super app is a mobile or web application that can offer multiple services, including payment and financial transaction processing, becoming an all-encompassing, self-contained commerce and communication platform that encompasses many aspects of personal and business life. Notable examples of super apps include Tencent's WeChat in China and Grab in Southeast Asia. The concept of super apps is seen by experts as a key competitive advantage of Asian providers over their US counterparts.

In today's world, everything revolves around data. Data is needed for many purposes: For the products and services we enjoy using every day; For our business processes, the development of products or innovations; For fighting a pandemic or coordinating aid during disasters; among many other important purposes. Collecting data is not bad per se. The question is how and what data gets collected; in other words, the sustainable scope when it comes to data. Pufé defines sustainability as follows: »[...] not to generate profits that then flow into environmental and social projects, but to generate profits already in an environmentally and socially responsible way.« Data sustainability therefore means taking into account the following aspects: economic, ecological and social.

The raw material of the data economy is data – especially personal data – on the basis of which, for example, the preferences and needs of citizens can be determined. This data can be collected or »harvested« in different ways. Most data is collected with products and services that are made available to users free of charge: Social media networks, messenger and streaming services, and all the little »helpers« like calculator apps, period trackers or jogging apps. The business models of data monopolists like Facebook, Google or Amazon are based on the exploitation of collected data, as are those of companies that do not comply with the GDPR and extract data with the help of bots.

Data brokers are merchants for data, i.e. companies that collect data on and off-line, buying it from and selling it to other companies.

Data brokers are not new players. More or less unnoticed, they have been around for a very long time. They used to be called address brokers, because the main business purpose was to »type« address data, e.g. from the Yellow Pages or telephone directories, and sell it to advertisers. Today it is a digital business: the buying and selling of user data. This is not illegal as long as the owners of the data have agreed to it.

Few know about the industry, which keeps a very low profile and turns over hundreds of billions of euros a year.