Below is a good article on blockchain technology and  how it can be a disruptor, including in industries where you don’t necessarily think of blockchain. This article does a nice job on the construction industry and how it can be transformed by using the technology. Check it out.See more at https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/How Blockchain and Construction Will Build a New WorldSARAH ROTHRIEHow Blockchain and Construction Will Build a New WorldWhen we think about industries set for disruption by blockchain, construction probably isn’t top of the list. After all, the traditional image of a building site seems far removed from crypto, coding, and hackathons. But there are potentially enormous benefits for putting blockchain and construction together.This article will round up some of the possible use cases for blockchain in the construction industry.Blockchain and Construction Supply ChainsA bad workman blames his tools, right? Maybe that’s a bit harsh, though. After all, the construction industry is dependent on the availability of quality supplies and tools, at the right time and in the right place. Given that the sector is highly fragmented with many different players, big and small, supply chains are a big deal.ToolsNot as innocent as they look…Purchase orders, delivery notes, and invoices are often still paper-based. Firms frequently don’t know if the supplies they need are in stock when they start a project, which leads to delays and incurs costs.These aren’t even the worst consequences. UK government contract Carillion collapsed at the start of 2018, affecting the jobs of around 43,000 people as a result. Sources pointed to its poor supply chain management as being a critical factor in the collapse, through lousy credit management and a lack of visibility over projects and required supplies.The blockchain is already proving its ability to transform supply chains, in one instance through the partnership between Walmart and IBM. Using blockchain to manage construction supply chains could create a single source of truth regarding the availability and provenance of construction supplies, as well as tracking payments.The industry is taking notice of this use case for blockchain and construction. Recent announcements have now confirmed that Probuild, one of Australia’s largest building firms, has partnered with US blockchain construction innovator Brickschain for managing its global supply chain. The announcement confirms that “Probuild has the vision that Blockchain, IoT and Big Data can revolutionize the construction supply chain.”Blockchain and Construction Project ManagementConstruction projects rely on various parties to work together to complete a building based on pre-defined specifications. Each party expects payment based on work done. Therefore, the peer-to-peer connectivity of blockchain, combined with smart contract functionality, brings excellent opportunities to streamline construction project management.One study into the potential of blockchain in construction project management found that “[o]n the construction site blockchain can improve the reliability and trustworthiness of construction logbooks, works performed and material quantities recorded.”Industry publication Construction Manager (they don’t mess around with fluffy, ambiguous names in this business) also reported on the development of two prototype applications combining blockchain and construction.TraderTransferTrust is a payment system built on... Read more →

Below is a good article on blockchain technology and privacy, especially when it comes to personal data.  As you are probably aware, the large companies out there (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, etc.) have a TON of personal information about you that they use for advertising, etc. It’s very possible that blockchain technology can alleviate a lot of those issues. Check it out.See more at https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/How Blockchain Can Save Our Privacy Before It DisappearsHow Blockchain Can Save Our Privacy Before It DisappearsALEX MOSKOVThis ain’t your granddaddy’s privacy battle.Times were simpler when postcards were the big privacy invasion scare.Today, our personal privacy is under siege by veiled government surveillance programs and the countless tech company Trojan Horses.Privacy, per Merriam-Webster, is defined as the quality or state of being apart from company or observation, or freedom from unauthorized intrusion.Technical innovations in the past twenty years have blurred the lines of “apart from company” and “unauthorized intrusion,” and now our personal privacy is under attack from multiple fronts.Our locations are constantly being tracked on our phones, which are borderline inseparable from our bodies. We are under constant surveillance.Social media platforms know more about us than we should be comfortable with.Our sensitive information is floating around and being exchanged for a myriad of unauthorized purposes.Many personal privacy advocates have taken to blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurship to build solutions that address the concerns of our dwindling right to privacy in the digital world.Technological advancements like blockchain and zero-proof have given the pro-privacy debate a new gust of wind. The beauty of these solutions is that they offer encryption or at least partial obfuscation on a massive scale.Privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash give us the freedom to transact without being tracked, but this could come at the prohibitively high cost of empowering and enabling criminal activity.Blockchain-based browsing and social media platforms like BAT, Steemit, and Sapien offer an escape from a manipulative data-mining browsing and social experience.blockchain and privacyThe following article explores the evolution of privacy in contemporary society, how the digital world has warped the reality of privacy and the rumbling dangers that come with it, and how blockchain and cryptocurrency projects offer a solution.A Contemporary Legal History to PrivacyPrivacy as we know it is a relatively recent development in human society. Our right to privacy isn’t explicitly stated in our Constitution and has been primarily defined by legal precedents, many of which haven’t accounted for the rapid societal change ushered in by the digital era.The rise of a private tech oligarchy posed new paradigms in which a slow-moving bulwark of a government is continually playing a game of iron-fisted catch-up.The government is in a precarious position when it comes to dishing out judgments against tech companies. These cases require light but decisive footwork to avoid stepping over and stifling private enterprise, while simultaneously protecting civilians from a very real bogeyman in the dark.The following are a handful of the legal precedents that have helped to dictate where the United States stands on personal... Read more →