farsightarchitecture - Tumblr blog

farsightarchitecture · 6 years ago

Text

Eight smart cities that are restoring privacy and empowering citizens with data

Eight smart cities that are restoring privacy and empowering citizens with dataA handful of local governments are taking bold steps to protect citizens from risks inherent in new data-intensive technologiesMonday, 13 August 2018In

Government innovation

3 min read

Cities are becoming a major focal point in the personal data economy. In city governments, there has been a rush towards data-informed approaches to everything from waste management and public transport through to policing and emergency response.

But amid the clamour for ‘smart’ new urban infrastructure, from connected lamp posts and bins to camera-enabled phone boxes, a fresh debate about digital ethics is emerging. Who decides what we do with all this data? And how do we ensure that its generation and use does not result in discrimination, exclusion and the erosion of privacy for citizens?

Nesta’s new report, written as part of our involvement with a major EU Horizon 2020 project called DECODE, looks at a handful of city governments that are pioneering new policies and services to enhance digital rights locally, and give people more control over personal data. Here is an overview of eight cities that we looked at:

Barcelona

Barcelona has a new digital transformation agenda which views ‘data as commons’ alongside directives mandating ethical use of data. The city has launched a new procurement process designed to incentivise responsible innovation and respect for privacy, and is currently undergoing full internal migration to the use of open-source software by Spring 2019. Later this year the city government is also due to pilot new online tools that let people selectively disclose the information they would like to share when using the council’s official e-participation platform, while preserving citizen anonymity.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is home to several projects which promote more responsible use of data across the city. The TADA manifesto, developed by the independent Amsterdam Economic Board, and endorsed by the city government, outlines a set of six principles designed to help organisations use personal data in a more responsible way. The Chief Technology Officer’s Innovation Team is also compiling a registry of all publicly installed sensors across the city, as well as running pilots that will allow people to access local e-government services in an anonymous way while minimising unnecessary collection of personal data.

New York

New York City is pursuing a range of initiatives which promote the responsible use and handling of citizen data. The city government has developed a set of Internet of Things (IoT) Guidelines which establish privacy standards for the deployment of IoT devices in public spaces throughout the city. The government has also introduced legislation mandating the creation of a task force to monitor the use of algorithmic decision-making systems by the public sector.

Seattle

Seattle has a comprehensive municipal privacy programme based on a core set of privacy principlesand policies. The programme clearly establishes the obligations and requirements of city departments regarding the management and use of data, and assigns internal 'Privacy Champions' to support their implementation. The government’s policies mandate the publication of privacy impact assessments and reports about the city’s programmes and open data portals, and public engagement on the installation of any new surveillance technologies.

Seattle's 'Look-up a Surveillance Technology' online tool

San Francisco

San Francisco has developed an Open Data Release Toolkit to help municipal officials assess the utility and value of publishing a dataset against risks of re-identification. The toolkit provides leaders with a number of clear, actionable processes for minimising these risks, allowing the city to use and release data in a more responsible, privacy-preserving way.

Sydney

Transport for New South Wales, a government agency responsible for public transport in Sydney, has collaborated with Australia’s leading data innovation group to apply state of the art differential privacy mechanisms to an open dataset. Differential privacy is a mathematical technique which minimises the privacy risks associated with the release of open data by adding random ‘noise’ within a dataset. In Sydney, the application of differential privacy enabled the release of a two-week data sample from the city’s ‘tap-on, tap-off’ Opal card system for trains, buses, light rail and ferries.

Ghent

As part of their ‘City of People’ strategy, the Belgian city of Ghent wants to empower its ‘smart citizens’ by giving them access to ‘technology that they own and control’. Residents are provided with a simple web-portal called ‘Mijn Gent’, which gives them access to a range of local services. The city is also collaborating with a non-profit called Ind.ie on an initiative called ‘Hallo.gent’ which will give residents their own personal website, on top of which applications can be built that let them manage and control how local services access and use personal data.

Zug

Zug, Switzerland is providing citizens with a decentralised digital e-identity system. This system issues citizens with a set of credentials, accessed via a digital mobile app, which they can use to verify themselves when accessing various local services. The e-ID gives citizens more control over personal data and a more secure alternative to national e-ID projects, such as SwissID, which rely on centralised databases.

Finally

Our report details these case studies further, and summarises a set of policy roles and actions available to city governments. These cover a wide range of options, from setting a strategic direction for change to providing new digital tools and enhancing skills and literacy. The five city government roles identified are: Leader, Guardian, Connector, Catalyst and Provider.

Read the full report, or keep up to date with further DECODE progress and research over on the DECODE project website.

Listing image: Mike Lewinski, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Part of

DECODE

#farsight #decode #nesta #smartcity

0 notes

farsightarchitecture · 6 years ago

Text

Where to set up a Cryptocurrency Exchange Part 1: The Fundamentals

Source: Flag Theory

International structuring to increase your freedom, privacy and wealth

Wednesday August 15th, 2018 Hi , What is the best jurisdiction to incorporate my cryptocurrency exchange?

This has been one of the most common questions we have received from entrepreneurs and companies that are planning to launch an exchange and this is why we start a new article series in which during the next two weeks we will discuss some of the most important aspects to take into account when deciding where to incorporate and we will review some of the most suitable jurisdictions.

Returning to the above question, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution and there is no such thing as the best country.

It is true that there are more crypto-friendly jurisdictions to operate in, but there are a multitude of factors to consider with the most important being the regulatory environment and the exchange business model to determine what regulations/licenses you will be subject to and the requirements to obtain them.

In this first chapter of "Where to set up a cryptocurrency exchange" article series, we summarize some of the most relevant factors you should consider when deciding what is the most suitable jurisdiction for your crypto exchange platform.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Regulations

The first thing to determine is if you plan to launch a regulated or unregulated exchange. There is a bit of uncertainty globally around what would be regulated and what not regulated - but there is a clear difference between fiat-crypto and crypto-crypto type exchanges. Some people might argue that crypto-crypto is unregulated, but other governments think otherwise.

Very few jurisdictions have established specific regulations for crypto exchanges. Currently most regulated exchanges run with Electronic Money Institution licenses. We’ll discuss this later.

Certain jurisdictions such as Gibraltar, Malta, Thailand, Estonia, Philippines or Japan, among others, have passed laws that specifically cover crypto wallets, crypto to fiat or crypto to crypto exchange activities. Obtaining a cryptocurrency exchange license in one of the above-mentioned jurisdictions provides a higher degree of regulatory certainty and adds legitimacy and confidence with users, in addition to potentially give access to more and better banking options.

However, to obtain a license you must fulfill certain requirements. From a solid and comprehensive business background of the promoters, physical presence in the jurisdiction, capital requirements, insurance, protocols and procedures when holding clients’ crypto assets, qualified compliance personnel, appropriate security protocols and systems and data protection procedures, among many others.

Although many of these requirements should be fulfilled by any 'self-regulated' exchange, especially when we speak about security and KYC/AML, the truth is that the whole process has a burden and a considerable cost that many projects simply don’t have the resources for.

For instance we have seen well-known exchanges operating in Europe withdraw their license applications in Japan, stating that they cannot meet regulatory requirements.

You can choose to operate in a jurisdiction where the crypto exchange activity is not regulated. You can launch your exchange without having to obtain a license, it is possible.

However, there will be certain restrictions on the services that you can offer and you will have to comply with the KYC/AML and current data protection regulations.

In any case, if you are planning to launch an unregulated exchange you should prepare for the inevitable. The regulatory wave has begun and it is expected that during the next 1-2 years exchanges will be fully regulated in most jurisdictions. You might want to be ready for that day.

Supporting Fiat Currency

As we have said, there are a number of exchanges that are run as Electronic Money Institutions in the USA and especially in Europe, where authorized EMIs can use their license across the whole continent without requiring additional licenses or operational/physical setups.

E-money licenses do not usually cover crypto exchange specific activities but they can authorize the exchange to hold customer funds in its bank accounts, that is, provide fiat wallets and allow deposits and withdrawals in fiat currency.

Obtaining this type of license not only allows supporting fiat currency but also can give confidence to your customers, some degree of regulatory certainty, and access to solid options in terms of banking, which in turn allows for better service to your users.

Passing the licensing process, meeting stringent requirements, having to follow AML/KYC regulations and being under the scrutiny of the regulator can considerably reduce banks perceived risk with crypto businesses. Banks are more comfortable working with regulated entities.

However, obtaining an E-money or other financial services license in Europe and the US may simply not be feasible to some startups due to their cost, requirements and time to obtain the license (which may take between 6 months and 1 year).

Some projects choose to go for an offshore financial services license whose cost is significantly lower and the requirements are more lenient. Such licenses include FX, Money Broker, or Payment processing licenses, depending on the exchange model.

The main issue in going offshore lies in the available banking options. Some offshore banks are not ideal for transactional, or day to day operations, accounts.

If deposits and withdrawals take time to complete and the costs of such transfers are high this can become a barrier to consumer acquisition. One possible solution is to work with an external payment processor to overcome it and provide a better customer experience.

We have also seen exchanges offering fiat deposits, withdrawals and wallets without any type of license or authorization for it. They usually suffer regular interruptions - mainly because bank accounts get closed. It is not a feasible long-term option because in addition to poor service and a business operational headache, it can lead to legal issues.

Utility or Security Token?

Regardless of whether you incorporate your exchange in a jurisdiction where the activity is regulated or not, or accept deposits and withdrawals in fiat currency, if your platform allows for security tokens trading - you will be subject to the relevant capital markets regulations.

That is, if you are running a Securities Token Exchange or there is any regulated financial product listed on your platform you will need permission and/or licensing from the relevant Securities and Exchange

Commission

Depending on your exchange model and the jurisdiction where you operate, you will need to seek different types of permission/licenses.

For instance, in the US you will need permission from the SEC to operate as an Alternative Trading System (ATS) or if operating in the EU, as a Multilateral trading facility. At the moment there are only a handful of licensed brokerage platforms dealing exclusively with security tokens.

Another thing to consider is whether you want to list "anonymous" coins in your exchange. Some countries where crypto exchanges are regulated do not allow listing coins such as Monero or Dash, other jurisdictions have restrictions on the cryptocurrencies that can be used as trading pairs.

Compliance

If you run an exchange you will have to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter financing of terrorism (CFT) rules. KYC/AML & CTF requirements vary between jurisdictions and may influence your decision to opt for one jurisdiction over another.

Many jurisdictions have issued statements specifying that exchanges are obliged to perform KYC/AML checks in accordance with established regulations. Other jurisdictions have not ruled on this.

However, normally, even if your activity is not explicitly subject to such rules you will want to comply with them.

You will have to identify your client and perform the appropriate customer due diligence and AML procedures, plus you may have to report suspicious transactions in accordance with established protocols and criteria. You will be required to keep the transaction records and comply with the retention periods according to the regulations, in addition to hiring the appropriate qualified compliance personnel, among other requirements.

There is a great risk of not doing so. If it is demonstrated that your exchange has been used for money laundering or terrorist financing, you may face serious legal issues.

Banking

Obtaining banking is another hurdle you must overcome. Most ‘onshore’ banks located in highly reputable jurisdictions are hesitant to take crypto-centric clients including exchanges, and those who do so only do it if there is a significant potential commercial relationship and they will still most likely require a costly risk assessment.

Being regulated will definitely open you up to more and higher quality options for both your business transactions and to hold clients’ funds in order to provide better services.

Your banking needs play an important role when choosing the jurisdiction for establishing your exchange operations. You will also need to consider whether you will need merchant processing services to accept deposits via credit card or other payment processing services for deposits & withdrawals or other alternative payment methods.

At Flag Theory we consistently help crypto businesses, including exchanges, open bank and merchant accounts for both regulated and unregulated companies.

Taxation and fees

Tax obligations can have a considerable impact on the profitability of your exchange.

In addition to corporate taxes you should consider the associated fiscal costs in establishing a physical presence in a given jurisdiction such as personal income or social security taxes, the costs associated with maintaining a license or specific taxation of your economic activity. For instance, Thailand imposes 0.002% tax on the total trading volume.

Certain tax obligations can also have a considerable impact not only at an economic level but also at an operational level, such as having to withhold tax on your users crypto gains or applying V.A.T.

Target Market

The target market is also an important factor when designing the corporate structure and determining the jurisdiction where to establish your exchange, especially if you plan to launch a regulated exchange. Where your clients are located is something that you should keep in mind, for instance, your setup will not be the same if you are targeting the EU or you want to focus on Asian markets.

The Bottom Line

The jurisdiction(s) in which you set up the exchange can have a considerable impact in the long-term.

If you decide to launch an unregulated exchange, adhere to the best practices and prepare your business to meet requirements when licenses are available. There is a clear trend of increasing and more rigorous regulatory supervision.

If you are looking for more regulatory certainty and have sufficient capital and resources to do so, set up your exchange in one of the jurisdictions where there is a legal framework and the regulatory conditions are favorable.

Over the next few days we will review and compare various jurisdictions where you can potentially establish a cryptocurrency exchange, its advantages, disadvantages and important aspects to consider. We will start with some of the most suitable Asia-Pacific region's jurisdictions in our next article.

If you are planning to set up an exchange we can help you set up a sound corporate structurechoosing the most advantageous jurisdictions, obtain licensing and bank accounts, as well as assisting in compliance matters. Contact us, it will be our pleasure to assist you. To your freedom, privacy and wealth, Flag Theory -- FORWARDED THIS MESSAGE? SIGN UP

Join our Global Citizens Community. Get exclusive content, private Q&As, giveaways, and more. No spam, ever. Just great stuff.

NOTICE: The contents of this email are not to be considered as a legal opinion or tax advice and should not be relied upon as such. Far Horizon Capital Inc does not hold itself out as a legal or tax advisor. If you wish to receive a legal opinion or tax advice on the matter(s) in this email please contact our offices and we will refer you to an appropriate legal practitioner. Use of our website FlagTheory.com or these emails is subject to our terms and conditions.

#flag theory #cryptocurrency #farsight #ftse

0 notes