sgCarMart and Ocean Protocol partner to build Singapore’s first Know-Your-Vehicle secure data marketplace

sgCarMart is launching Singapore’s first Know-Your-Vehicle used car data marketplace to support better decision making for consumers. Leveraging Ocean Protocol’s breakthrough data sharing blockchain technology, comprehensive information about a used car can now be securely shared and accessed to help consumers make more objective and accurate buying decisions.

“Currently, customers wanting to buy a used car will need to rely on information provided by the current owner or used car dealer. There will be a natural tendency to understate or not reveal defects of the vehicle,” said Glenn Ong, General Manager of sgCarMart Quotz. “Buyers can rely on 3rd party inspection centres to do a check but matters like odometer tampering can still go undetected.”

Buying a used car is common in Singapore as it is expensive to own a car. According to LTA 2018 figures, nearly 9,000 cars changed ownerships per month in Singapore. In addition, since there are significant environmental costs to both manufacturing a new automobile and scrapping an old car, a thriving used-car market can reduce vehicles’ carbon impact on our environment. In fact, manufacturing makes up as much as 35 percent of a vehicle’s lifetime carbon emissions. This means that every buyer who selects a used vehicle over a new one is helping to slow the build-up of greenhouse gases. However, it is important for consumers to choose used cars with good gas-mileage and lower emissions.

Another very important factor to get to “know your vehicle” is safety. Buyers should confirm details such as engine and chassis number, safety rating, past accident records, number of owners the car had, etc. before purchasing a used car. Unfortunately, the sources of these data are not always reliable.

By using Ocean Protocol, the origin of data and its trail can be established, recorded, and traced. Hence, sgCarMart’s used car data marketplace can not only ensure buyers get up-to-date information about the used cars available in the market, but accurate and reliable ones. All in all, the Know-Your-Vehicle Data Marketplace can promote road safety for all by making sure that consumers purchase cars that are fit for the road; and in the long run, encourage car owners to better maintain their cars to maximize resale value thereby enforcing a virtuous cycle.

“Data is everywhere but a vast amount of it is currently locked up due to friction surrounding data sharing. Ocean Protocol provides companies with a platform to share and monetize data in a secure, traceable, and privacy-preserving manner. It allows data owners to retain control of data access and offers an incentive mechanism for companies to deploy, to collect quality data from their stakeholders,” said Daryl Arnold, founder of Ocean Protocol.

Ocean Protocol uses blockchain technology, smart contracts, and tokens to enable safe and secure sharing of data, guaranteeing control and auditability while protecting privacy. The technology allows organizations to set pricing and trade data without losing control of their data assets. Smart contracts allow data owners to program the conditions of access, which are then executed with precision. This gives data owners and buyers transparency, security and guarantees of payment and use.

Ocean also enables algorithms and models to travel to the data, get trained and then leave without exposing the data or taking a copy, thereby retaining privacy, ensuring regulatory compliance. This can ultimately free up data to advance problem-solving AI.

“We are pleased to unlock used car data so that consumers can make better and safer buying decisions. In future, we hope to leverage these data further to help industries and the government to advance products and services as well as a greener and more efficient future for the people in Singapore,” Glenn Ong added.