What if our internet experience was on blockchains?

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Data and information is the new, or perhaps now, the old new gold, or oil, or any commodity that makes people rich from owning and using it. Unfortunately, unlike gold, data is tricky. Who owns it, where is it, and how exactly is it used to make people rich? Maybe 20 years from now they will make a movie about the wild early days of data and of Facebook, Google, and Twitter. I imagine it would be similar to “There will be blood” with Daniel Day-Lewis. But maybe not, because data collection is quiet and painless, and easy. It is not a drill that goes deep into the ground, messy and destructive looking for oil. Data is not in some mountain filled with gold just waiting to be picked from the hard rock and dirt. Data is us. It is our actions, our thoughts, our intentions and our desires. It is the key to who we are and it is being taken from us everywhere we go and, we do not mind, we actually freely give it away.

In today’s world, data collection is a way of life and everyone knows it. Except no one knows exactly how it is being used or how to stop data from being collected. It is our data that we have generated about us. Shouldn’t we have the final say as to who may use it and how it may be used? Shouldn’t we own this data? Is that even possible?

If the internet were on blockchains the answer would be yes. All of the data that we generate from going on sites, meeting people online, clicking, reading, test taking, and searching would just stay with us once we leave a site or browser, it would be completely portable and owned by us. We choose who we want to share our data with and where we want to leave our data for analysis.

Blockchains are decentralized ledgers where information or code is stored and encrypted in (code) blocks. Instead of having all of the information in one place or a central server, blockchains have copies of the same information spread out over many different computers (nodes) making storage of that information decentralized. So, if someone were to break into one computer and changed some information they would then need to break into every other computer as well. Of course, they would also need to break the encryption which is in the form of a hash. A hash returns the same number of digits no matter what is stored inside of it. That information could be anything from a single digit to all of the information on every website in the world or all of the data from every site and search visited by you (hash example.) Also, since the information is on a block, they would then need to change all of the other blocks that follow it on every node (blockchain example.) This is why information that is stored on a block is nearly impossible to change making blockchains immutable, secure and trustless.

Bitcoin is an example of a type of blockchain that only stores ownership of “coins” and their increase or decrease to and from accounts. An account on a ledger has a public address and a private key. Both are represented by a series of letters and numbers (my public address on the Ethereum network is 0x3bcc2903d78ae88f15b7616c7bb1dc9cdeeedae2). The public address is seen by everyone. It is used to send and receive information. The other is the private key and is the code that unlocks and gives the holder of that private key full access and rights to a public address (it looks similar to the public address consisting of a series of numbers and letters but, I will not show my key here). For the most part, everything is about the public address and private key, there are no names, or other identifiable information, just some numbers and letters. Whoever knows the private key owns everything on that public address ledger. Today the actual definition of what a blockchain is had not really been fully defined yet, there are details that make a full definition of what a blockchain is challenging. But most agree that a blockchain should have-

– some element of decentralization

– encryption

– ledgers and accounts with public and private keys to those accounts

– some incentive for maintaining the ledger on the decentralized nodes usually in the form of coins

There are many different blockchains that perform functions beyond just maintaining a ledger, most of them have some kind of “coin” associated with it. The coin is a specific currency that is needed in order to do anything on that blockchain. It is also needed as an incentive for maintaining the decentralized ledger.

If the internet were on blockchains and you wanted to go online you would need to enter your public address along with a private key somewhere in the browser. Your account would have a certain amount of coins that you purchased or earned and there is a certain amount of coins needed to access the search of that browser. Your account also has your personal information and records to a block all of your online activity. You do not need to re-enter or verify your identity, every site you enter already knows you based on your public address. Once you run out of coins or log-out of the browser all of your internet activity is converted to a hash, written in a block on the website browser blockchain and taken with you.

Having the internet on a blockchain will allow for individuals to take back ownership of their data and their digital self by literally taking it with them after it is generated online. As opposed to what we have now, where data is left and owned by the platform that was used. Should people want to leave their data and receive tokens for it then that would be their decision? With blockchains, every action that one would like to do online would have a cost. By paying for every action with tokens users will know exactly what every action costs and the value of their data. Internet platforms will be paid for the use of their service. Just as we would pay anyone else for their service or product.

With blockchains, platforms such as Twitter or Facebook would be able to generate revenue but in a straightforward and transparent way.

Presently organizations such as Blockstack are addressing the issues of data portability and data transparency on the internet by using IDs that people create with a blockchain address that is added it to a browser before a search. People sign-in to the browser and all data stays on their personal blockchain address. Blockstack needs to create whole new apps that will work with their browser and individual IDs. but the technology is promising and has several venture capital firms backing it. Tron coin is another blockchain technology that addresses decentralization of data for publishing works. Individuals can have their data on their blockchain and publish to the internet without being on a platform such as youtube. It allows for people to publish whatever they create and have it live on their blockchain address.

The disadvantages and drawbacks of blockchains and why it will take some time.

1- Redundancies of decentralization create a tradeoff between efficiency and security. It takes longer to record the same transaction over thousands of nodes as opposed to one central server. The system is clearly inefficient but extremely secure.

2- Mining and proof of work (recording ledger changes) increasingly take up more electricity as the math problems that are needed to solve become increasingly more difficult. To create just 1 bitcoin today requires as much electricity as powering over 1.5 homes for a week in the US.

3- E-waste from mining activities is a substantial pollutant. As more electricity is needed to mine the cryptocurrency, more energy is needed. Fuels such as coal and oil are now being used to create this additional power.

4- Present concentration of mining computers are centralized in specific parts of the world. Today more than 80% of Bitcoin mining is in China, making bitcoin vulnerable to political pressures and other geographic-specific vulnerabilities. This is true of other blockchains as well where mining is concentrated in a particular country or geographic location.

5- Confusion and misunderstanding of what a blockchain is and the importance of keeping your private key safe. As of today, if someone has your private key then they have whatever asset you have in your public address. There is no safety net, no proof of ownership other than having this “key”. If the key is lost or forgotten, then the same will be for any asset it opens in the address.

6- implementation- introducing the blockchain to a service like an internet search will require a major “rebuild” of how we use the internet now. All websites would need to be reconfigured or recreated with the blockchain technology built in and utilized.

Websites such as Facebook need to be maintained, updated and made available to users. There are thousands of people working on such sites generating expenses that need to be paid. Just because we are not asked for our credit card information before a Google search or access our Facebook or Twitter account doesn’t make it “free” without cost. For some, this is OK for others it may not be, but for all, this cost is not clear. What is clear is that sites such as Facebook generate enough revenue to sustain itself and create a profit from a single product, the data of its users. I am not opposed to companies making a profit from data as long as the creators of that data (the users) are informed, are aware and give consent. People should have a choice with how their data is used or not used. If you go to a store to get a shirt, you wouldn’t just let the store owner charge you anything they like for that shirt. You would ask for a price and then decide if the shirt is worth it. With data, we are never asked or told of the price or cost. We just pay it, or rather it is just taken.

As our faith and trust in large platforms such as Facebook and Google diminish. As more people realize that their identity and information are being used against their will, without their knowledge, and with lax security, there will be a demand for something different than the status quo and the blockchain solution could be given a serious look.

There are solutions being proposed all over the world to address some of the drawbacks of blockchain technology. While parts of the blockchain are not new, the technology as we see today is relatively new and still needs to develop. Also, it seems that the public still has not been swayed by all of the data breaches, thefts, and abuses. There has not been any real outcry for change. Unfortunately, public outcry is the only way major change happens, something somehow has to seriously break with real damage incurred before change can happen. So for now, we just have to wait and see. My question is what will come first? A blockchain ready for mass use on the internet or the internet completely losing the full trust of the people.