Network update and reinforcement

In this article we will disclose some major steps aimed at strengthening our ever-growing network.

Over the last couple of months, our network experienced exponential growth, which has put us under a lot of pressure. We are sorry for all the inconveniences that came along the way as a result, but resources and time are not unlimited and we are still a young (yet quite promising) startup.

We have been working round the clock to ensure the stability of our network as we get ready to take PlanetWatch to the next level and start selling scientifically valuable air quality data.

Having said that, we would like to walk you through an important set of measures we are introducing and which will require your involvement and compliance. 

Licenses

Until now, the license’s NFT wasn’t being systematically checked before issuing the rewards. From March 14th on, this will change. Every sensor must be associated with a valid license. Otherwise, rewards won’t be issued.

Moreover, the license’s starting date must match the payment of the first reward. So, your license’s starting date will be moved to the date in which you received your first reward. Also, if your sensor is eligible for free license months, the expiration date will be extended automatically.

Location

According to our White Paper:
– Every device has to be set to a specific location;
– You can’t operate more than one sensor per type at the same location.

In the past, we had an issue with inserting the sensor location on our mobile App and, at that time, we advised users facing difficulties to set their sensor location to PlanetWatch’s headquarters. However, this bug was fixed long ago and, since then, we have released several updates both for our Explorer and for our mobile App (1.2 update) which make it easy to insert your sensor’s location.

For this reason, we will now demand that, by March 14th, everyone updates the location of all owned sensors to where they are actually deployed. In particular:

Type 1
You have to set the right location and we will later check if it matches the GPS location that we receive directly from the sensor. Nevertheless, to avoid occasional GPS issues, the location assigned to your data will be the one you have inserted.
Warning: If you see a red triangle displayed near your location on the sensor’s details card, even if the address is the correct one, please update it again.

Type 2
You have to set the right location and we will later check if it matches the GPS location that we receive directly from the sensor. Nevertheless, to avoid occasional GPS issues, the location assigned to your data will be the one you have inserted.

Type 3
You have to set the location to where the sensor is.

Type 4
For the Awair Element sensor you have to set the location to where the sensor is.
For the Atmotube PRO you have to set the location to where the sensor spends more time (e.g.: your home address). 

Be aware that if our automatic checks detect any anomalies with your account, all your sensors will be suspended until we clarify matters with you.

KYC and merge accounts

As we first announced back in October, we are committed to enforcing identity checks for all users. That’s why we introduced KYC.

In order to receive rewards, all PlanetWatchers have to complete a Basic KYC verification and those who own more than 5 licenses also have to pass the Advanced KYC verification. 

You can complete the KYC in the “MyVerification” section in your Explorer account. Please note that you can only complete the KYC as long as you have purchased at least one license.

Starting on March 14th, KYC will become mandatory, which means that Planets rewards will not be credited to users which haven’t performed the Basic or Advanced KYC (depending on the number of sensors owned as per our rules).

Since the KYC verification must refer to a single email address, it isn’t possible for the same owner to purchase licenses using different accounts. Effective March 4th, if you buy licenses using more than one account we will no longer merge the accounts and your purchase will be refunded.

After that date and until March 14th, we will only handle merge account requests related to license purchases dating prior to March 4th. During this period, you can ask us to merge your accounts by opening a ticket (select the “Merge accounts” option).

Before authorising any account merge we will perform a set of checks both on the orders’ details and your KYC info. Bear in mind that if the accounts aren’t owned by the same person, the procedure is considered a “license transfer” and, for that, you will need to wait for our license transfer policy, which is in the making.

Data streams records

We have developed an automatic system for recording the sensor’s data streams into the Algorand blockchain. This means the number of 0 Planets transactions in your account will change because each one will contain a larger amount of data streams.

We are gradually migrating all our sensors to this new system and the process will be completed by the end of March. You can check if your sensor has already been migrated by reviewing the note field in a 0 Planets transaction. The new format is the following:

"sensorId": "PW:XX_XXXXX",    //your NFT sensor name
  "streams": xx,              //number of streams recorded
  "data": "....."             //encrypted environmental data

Troubleshooting tool

We have just launched a tool that allows you to troubleshoot your sensors directly through your Explorer account. You can learn more about our new troubleshooting tool here.

All the measures laid out above will make up for a reinforced network, which is the stepping stone to PlanetWatch’s success.

Keep watching our Planet and thank you for sticking with us! 🌍