New blockchain partnership to build honest used car database

When it comes to used cars, one of the biggest points of concern is the matter of history. This is what a new partnership between blockchain firm Ocean Protocol and used car website sgCarMart will address. By essentially building a ledger of used car data, consumers will have a better idea of who owned the car, how many owners it had, along with its usage data.

In a press release sgCarMart Quotz General Manager, Glenn Ong explained exactly what the consumers would be getting out of this partnership. Simply put, there will be more transparency as to the details of the used vehicle that they will be getting so that they won’t get any nasty surprises.

"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," Ong said. "Buyers can rely on 3rd party inspection centres to do a check but matters like odometer tampering can still go undetected."

It is not uncommon for used car buyers to find that they were not given the full picture of the vehicle’s condition upon purchase. It’s also possible that even the seller didn’t know about any possible defects since they might have bought it off of a previous owner who had much to lose if they were honest. This is what Ocean Protocol founder Daryl Arnold believes this partnership could be of help.

"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," Arnold said.

Buying used cars or even renting cars is expected to become more common in the future, especially where smart cities is concerned, Ledger Insights notes. Building this kind of blockchain database could be of immense use.