Heya @Ana !
So the user journey for a data producer (an ordinary person in most cases) should look something like this.
So let's break this down:
They go to the app which they either have a hardware of software interaction with. Something like say Fitbit or Spotify. Or it is a piece of software which say is run and operated locally like the Firefox plugin.
The user then opts to push the real-time data which they are creating/generating through those interactions, to somewhere else (the Streamr Marketplace). In order to do this in most apps, they will need some kind of permission from that app. Either that will be offered through a third party integration (like say the 3rd party Spotify demo we have here or through a native integration on the app. If it is native then it might look something like this: Spotify has a "send your data to Streamr" section into its existing app. With the Firefox plugin, since Firefox doesn't control your browser, nor what plugins you can install, then there is no external permission needed.
(There's another section here I could write about why we believe GDPR will force all companies into permissioning this data i.e. they won't be able to say no).
- Now once you get past that stage, you will be sending that data to a type of digital Data Union, we're calling a Community Product. For v1.0 of Community Products, these will be created and run by "admins".
Who are admins? Admins will have significant control over "their" products. Their job will be to; ensure that the data is useful and that malicious users aren't trying to game the system, market that data to buyers, create larger data sets by appealing to more users. For this, admins will be able to take a cut of the sale of a Community Product. So from the perspective of an ordinary user, the ordinary user could be kicked off by a product admin because that admin no longer finds the data which the user is generating useful/genuine etc.
Here's an exclusive peak btw at the product flow creation for admins.
However there is no reason why other Community Products can not be established and set. And, even more excitingly, in something like v2.0 of Community Products we are hoping to integrate governance tooling from the Colony team so that ordinary users and admins can have a far less hierarchical relationship. This is really exciting because you end up with data cooperatives where data producers, data managers, and data buyers start working together to create value for everyone in digital systems that really take account of those different interests and can scale.
Of course Streamr's Marketplace will be decentralized - open and permissionless - so admins, buyers and users can use the system without fear that a single central actor will be able to shut them down.
Finally when it comes to earning tokens - phew I finally got there! - the data producers who are part of a Community Product will get the tokens directly from the buyers of those products the instant a payment is made. It will not via Community Product admins, Streamr, or anyone else. The payment system is bespoke and is called Monoplasma. You can read more here and you can watch Henri Pihkala talk about it here.
I hope that answers the question! @Ana