The inventor of the World Wide Web has unveiled a plan for a new secure\u00a0internet but they are still looking at the economic value of it but it will give power to the people who own their data and not to the internet giants. From what he is saying, it will allow people who want to access or share your pictures to ask you first then you decides either to grant it or not.<\/p>\n
Why it matters:\u00a0The internet is not what its founder, Tim Berners-Lee, wanted it to be. It has finally exploded into his dream of an open resource that everyone can see and interact with, purchase things, connect and innovate on. But that\u2019s come with something no one saw coming back when the internet was in its infancy: unwanted control and manipulation of our data.<\/p>\n
For several years Sir Tim Berners-Lee and his team at MIT have been developing a decentralized platform designed to give every internet user full control over their data:\u00a0Solid(Social\u00a0Linked\u00a0Data). This week he is\u00a0revealing\u00a0the first start-up to take advantage of the Solid platform, called\u00a0Inrupt. Berners-Lee and his partner John Bruce will lead a small team of inspired developers to take the power back from the internet giants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intent is world domination. We are not talking to Facebook and Google about whether or not to introduce a complete change where all their business models are completely upended overnight. We are not asking their permission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berners-Lee says that Facebook\u2019s continuous failure to protect its users is something that drives him: \u201cWe have to do it now. It\u2019s a historical moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think we can all agree a change is sorely needed; only two days ago it was\u00a0revealed\u00a0that 50 million Facebook accounts may have been compromised. Berners-Lee says that Facebook\u2019s continuous failure to protect its users is something that drives him: \u201cWe have to do it now. It\u2019s a historical moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solid\u00a0works\u00a0through something called a Solid POD, a Personal Online Data storage system. A POD is simply a file that contains all your data: videos, images, calendar, address, preferences, friend lists \u2013 everything from where you work to the name of your Labrador. The Solid development team is working on software that creates and manages a POD, and once it is fully complete (soon, we\u2019re told) companies and individuals will be able to create and use their own POD servers. What this means is that you can store your own POD on an internet-connected device or simply pay a company to store it for you.<\/p>\n
Any and all sites or apps that want access to information about you simply ask your POD for it \u2013 depending on your choices, it will say yes or no. For example, a social media platform may ask your POD for your name, age, phone number and any images you might want to share. But the social media platform doesn\u2019t control the information: by disabling the platform\u2019s access to your POD the information is removed.<\/p>\n
This is\u00a0where\u00a0Inrupt enters the fray: it allows you to create a POD on Inrupt\u2019s servers, and it will create apps and assist other companies to create apps using Solid. Technically, you can create a POD right now on their website and play around with calendar and note-taking apps, but, to be frank, the interface is dreadful and nowhere near ready for use. Inrupt is currently funded by Glasswing Ventures, who specialize in AI and other technology start-ups, but Inrupt is pursuing further funding.<\/p>\n
The Solid platform is a good idea with good goals. Solid PODs are a good and technologically feasible execution of that idea. But will it get its feet off the ground?<\/p>\n
We can look at this in two ways. The first is the perspective of an up-and-coming platform. It\u2019s brilliant; the next big thing. Like pretty much all platforms, ad-revenue is an important aspect. The platform\u2019s creators are faced with a choice: use PODs to protect users\u2019 data and make less money, or trust that they can protect users\u2019 data themselves and make more money. The creators will likely have good intentions (think\u00a0WhatsApp\u00a0or Telegram) but it is hard to find investors who\u2019ll agree to make less money.<\/p>\n
The second perspective is of an established platform. Take YouTube as an example. It would be extremely difficult for them to switch over to PODs even if they wanted to: shareholders would not be impressed by suddenly switching over to a less profitable business model (e.g. non-targeted ads). Particularly when they can easily just continue with their current business model.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is, the Solid platform is a brilliant idea but because it doesn\u2019t make economic sense, it\u2019s hard to envisage widespread adoption. Unless Inrupt can somehow make PODs profitable for companies to adopt, or create their own platforms to rival Google and Facebook, our data will remain in the hands of the corporate giants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The inventor of the World Wide Web has unveiled a plan for a new secure\u00a0internet but they are still looking at the economic value of it but it will give power to the people who own their data and not to the internet giants. From what he is saying, it will allow people who want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech-news"],"yoast_head":"\n