By: Geeq  on May 27, 2022

Welcome to Geeq, where we work to produce the newest generation of applications that are simple, useful, and pleasurable to use – with blockchain doing exactly what it should be doing and where:in the background. Here is our latest testing framework, where we preview Geeq’s powerful ability to support you, as you interact with data.

Greetings, Geeq Community!

We’re excited to introduce you to the cloud Testing Framework (TF) for Geeq Data, our first Geeq-native application. Before we announce the TF to the public, we hope you will try out these versions of Geeq Data and the new Geeq Block Explorer on your large screens and give us your input. Many hands make light work, so let’s go!

What problems does Geeq Data solve?

Geeq Data is bringing you the power to certify your own documents and data. It is an attestation service that shows how Geeq’s blockchain technology provides solutions to problems that arise when responsibility for data integrity falls through the cracks or there aren’t enough resources to authenticate and verify every piece of data manually.

Data integrity is an issue that can cost businesses as much as 25% of revenue. As cybersecurity attacks worsen, even redundant backups may become useless if you do not have confidence the data are unchanged. With Geeq Data’s provable security, it is possible to identify which backups have been contaminated, which ones have data integrity, and how to narrow the scope of any necessary recovery efforts.

Lines of responsibility for data ownership also are becoming harder to maintain as the volume of data increases and interactions grow exponentially. Miscommunications or mishandling of data responsibilities can be the sources of rifts at work, breaches of privacy, liability, and worse. Geeq Data introduces clarity to those situations in a highly efficient and non-intrusive way.

As an individual, trying to trace data integrity and track down who is responsible for which data can be overwhelming. Too often it feels like you are lost and on your own, not knowing who to contact, how to find them, or when they might help you.

What does Geeq Data do?

Geeq Data harnesses elements of blockchain to introduce a more comprehensive, cost-effective, reliable, and neutral set of assurances than has ever been possible. It does so, in essence, by cutting through the red tape and creating a permanent, easily searchable record of attestations for data.

In doing so, Geeq Data reduces the need for coordination, creates a record for provenance, divides the work of record-keeping, and creates a resource that is readily available to anyone with permission to access it.

You’re in the driver’s seat

When you are ready to submit an attestation of data (i.e. any machine readable bytes of information), the Geeq Data app associates the account signed by your private key with your submission. Applied to appropriate use cases, Geeq Data can eliminate your dependence on others to act in a timely fashion by helping you to act as your own authorizing source. To do this, Geeq Data equates your identity with a distinctive cryptographic signature.

You may have heard, “not your keys, not your account”, which is true. This means you must safeguard the cryptographic private key to your account or someone might be able to access your account and sign transactions as if they came from you. Of course, identity theft is possible in the real world as well and, any time you are on the internet, you must protect your personal information, logins, and methods of payment from being purchased or stolen.

As phishing scams and hacks become more sophisticated, keeping one cryptographic key private is arguably an easier way to keep your account secure.

To read more about public and private keys, see Geeq’s Introduction to Encryption.

To jump to the Testing Framework (on a large screen), try the Geeq Data app here.

As easy as 1 – 2 – 3 – Send

The Geeq Data app prompts the user through four easy steps. The last step asks you to confirm you have the right to use the private key for the sending account. If so, press Send. Your attestation is automatically formatted as a transaction that is sent from that account to a node in the Geeq app’s blockchain network.

When your transaction is received by an active node, it is validated and written into a block appended to the validation layer blockchain. The data payload contained in the transaction is written into a corresponding block appended to the application layer blockchain.

Please note: the Testing Framework for the Community Release is simplified in several ways. First, the entire community will be sharing a single account. Second, it is possible if problems arise, we may reset the blockchain – which would result in an inability for the community to see their previously submitted transactions. The former is a convenience. The latter is a part of the testing design and will not be possible when the apps and blockchains are live and in the wild.

Geeq Data for enterprises

Most enterprises are interested in private blockchain deployments for internal use. Enterprise decision makers want assurances their data has been authenticated by Geeq Data but are still concerned about exposing sensitive data to the public. Geeq Data may be customized for enterprises to use with private Geeq blockchains or with a hybrid model that combines Geeq’s public and private blockchains.

In addition, Geeq Data apps include flexible permissioning for the submissions of transactions. Enterprises may also choose how to permission access to the corresponding Geeq Block Explorer app.

By building with enterprise needs in mind, Geeq Data also provides a flexible, stand-alone, and easy to adopt assurance layer for enterprises who work closely with other data service providers, such as middleware providers or data analytics firms.

All permissioned parties are able to benefit by using Geeq Data apps and their associated Block Explorers to prove the data products are backed up with attestations of data integrity. In a world where the quality of business relationships still matters, Geeq Data provides an additional layer of comfort and credibility for partners.

Ready to learn more? Partner with us!

A new block explorer!

The Geeq Block Explorer has developed into a self-contained app with search capabilities. It displays the contents of the application chain block by block, and may be used to search via hash or metadata.

Discovering whether an attestation exists is as simple as searching for an exact match in the application layer for validated transactions. It is also possible for the Block Explorer to provide a cryptographic proof that a particular transaction was committed to a certain block as part of the current chain.

Finally, when a user’s transaction is committed, the user will be provided with a durable and compact cryptographic proof of inclusion in the block. Although this feature is not yet implemented, as far as we know, the efficiency of this proof is unique to Geeq. It also means non-technical users will not have to trust a centralized provider of a Block Explorer.

To be a Geeq is to find problems and be inspired to solve them

If you’ve read this far, you are most likely a staunch Geeq supporter and we appreciate your time very much. Here are some final thoughts. They should be obvious, but please help us spread the word and combat misinformation.

1. Geeq’s Testing Frameworks are released in order to help us build the best products for the public, in public.

We fully expect you to stress, test, explore, and – break – the Testing Framework in all kinds of wonderful and creative ways. We are on our way to making Geeq good. Please help us make Geeq better!

2. In that spirit, we’ve set up a help desk to report bugs and suggestions. You will find the link at the bottom of both app’s web pages.

When you arrive at the help desk, you’ll be able to report a bug or send feedback. Please do so often and recruit anyone who will listen. We can’t fix what we don’t see and we can’t wait to hear what you think.

3. Here is the internal procedure we have planned. Reports and suggestions will be triaged to decide which fixes or upgrades should be included in upcoming sprints, and when. If something seems extremely important to you, please mark it as such. Your ideas are an integral part of this process.

4. We will update the Testing Framework periodically. When we do, the blockchain will be reset. As we mentioned earlier, don’t worry, we will not be able to do this when Geeq-native apps and chains are in the wild. It is an artifact of the testing process. The blockchains in these Testing Frameworks are intended to be short-term, controlled experiments that give us actionable information.

5. We are also running automated stress tests in the background. Please do not let anyone panic if the Testing Framework is temporarily unavailable for maintenance, upgrades, or analysis. As a bonus, if you break the Testing Framework instead of us, we will be transparent with you when we understand it and have a solution. Good luck!

In the meantime, we ask for your patience, good will, and advice. We’ll be sure to be in the community channels to answer questions, listen to your suggestions, and give you whatever insights and updates we can.

You Are the Star

So, now it’s over to you.

Please share your experiences on Twitter and in our Telegram channel using the hashtag #TryGeeq. This is the time for us to raise awareness, gather feedback, and begin to tell the world that Geeq’s blockchain technology has opened the door to new kinds of life-enhancing applications.

We know we are taking a big step forward. Let’s do it. Together. For everyone.

Be one of the first to try out Geeq Data!

Yours truly,
The Geeq Team