{"id":436659,"date":"2022-04-24T14:17:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-24T11:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-loss-of-privacy-why-we-must-fight-for-a-decentralized-future\/"},"modified":"2022-04-24T14:17:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T11:17:00","slug":"the-loss-of-privacy-why-we-must-fight-for-a-decentralized-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-loss-of-privacy-why-we-must-fight-for-a-decentralized-future\/","title":{"rendered":"# The loss of privacy: Why we must fight for a decentralized future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3f7b0d11dcf\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3f7b0d11dcf\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-loss-of-privacy-why-we-must-fight-for-a-decentralized-future\/#%E2%80%9D_The_loss_of_privacy_Why_we_must_fight_for_a_decentralized_future_%E2%80%9C\" >&#8221; The loss of privacy: Why we must fight for a decentralized future &#8220;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-loss-of-privacy-why-we-must-fight-for-a-decentralized-future\/#Taking_our_power_back\" >Taking our power back<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9D_The_loss_of_privacy_Why_we_must_fight_for_a_decentralized_future_%E2%80%9C\"><\/span>&#8221; The loss of privacy: Why we must fight for a decentralized future &#8220;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-2a0745c6>If you\u2019re into cryptocurrency or blockchain, there\u2019s a good chance I don\u2019t have to spell out the benefits of decentralization. You\u2019re a first-generation user of a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> that will increasingly define the future of the internet, and you have front-row seats to the world premiere of Web3.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-04\/2ac23204-346d-4dd1-bf24-d46da8ca3818.png\"><\/figure>\n<p>The internet\u2019s use and control were always as centralized as we see now. In the early days, under the stewardship of the United States Department of Defense, the network needed not to rely on one core computer. What if a terrorist attack or missile strike took down the principal node? Individual network parts had to communicate without relying on a single computer to reduce vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p>Later, the unincorporated Internet Engineering Task Force, which facilitated the development of all internet protocols, worked ceaselessly to prevent private companies or particular countries from controlling the network.<\/p>\n<p>Today, centralized <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> nodes are controlled and operated by the planet\u2019s richest organizations, collecting and storing billions of people\u2019s data. Private companies control the user experience on apps and can incentivize and manipulate behavior. From a reliability standpoint, billions lose their primary means of communication when centralized nodes go down \u2014 as in recent incidents with <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger in October 2021.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-04\/970cca4a-631d-4972-96ed-c18fe031e4fd.png\"><\/figure>\n<p>We have also seen how little the tech behemoths think of our privacy when dollar signs appear in their eyes: They harvest and sell our data on an industrial scale. After 10-plus years of using people as advertisers\u2019 products, Mark Zuckerberg has brazenly co-opted the metaverse. Google and Apple, meanwhile, continue their incessant mission to enter every corner of our lives. <\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>The data economy is a dystopian nightmare<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We also know what happens when authoritarian governments come knocking on the doors of these centralized mega-warehouses of data, fed by our devices that function as a surveillance army. We\u2019ve seen in Ukraine the awful, large-scale violence that can be excused or hidden when media and military power comes under authoritarian control. In some countries, the state has unprecedented access to every aspect of citizens\u2019 behavior, monitoring everything from internet search history to minor social infractions. Systems that would horrify even George Orwell are only possible because of centralization.<\/p>\n<p>Even in Silicon Valley, ensconced within Western notions of freedom and individuals\u2019 rights, tech empires rarely choose a principled stance over a large, lucrative market. When centralized powers such as Moscow, Beijing or Istanbul ask for censorship and control, they usually get it. Fundamentally, we cannot trust the tech giants with the innermost details of our lives; the centralization of control over the internet is undermining or forestalling democracy everywhere.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Taking_our_power_back\"><\/span>Taking our power back<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We should not be surprised that tech behemoths have become the natural enemies of decentralization: Centralization is a natural instinct for those in control. Until the advent of the internet and the blockchain, centralization often meant convenience and simplicity. In the Middle Ages, a distributed system of vassal lords meant the monarchy lacked control, and money seeped through the cracks of corruption. <\/p>\n<p>With time and distance no longer problematic in the internet age, Big Tech\u2019s drive toward centralization is less surprising. Can we be astonished by the horrific results of attention-grabbing algorithms, such as attempted genocides or political manipulation based on psychometric analysis of user data? Centralization has consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Distributed ledger technology provides a practical alternative. Social media, messaging, streaming, searching and data-sharing on the blockchain can be fairer, more transparent and accessible, and less centralized. Conversely, this does not mean data has to be less private. <\/p>\n<p>In XX Messenger\u2019s case, which my team and I launched in January, XX Network nodes process anonymous messages worldwide, shredding metadata for recipients and timestamps. With XX, there is privacy and decentralization. Later, this new paradigm of communications and information-sharing makes a significant extension and reinvention of democracy possible.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Blockchain-based decentralized messengers: A privacy pipedream?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are moments in history when two separate events combine to tell a greater truth. In 2008, when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. crashed in the wake of the Great Recession, it seemed to be the death knell of centralized financial institutions, despite the economic pain it would herald. Then, little more than a month later, Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper, the revolutionary blueprint for modern peer-to-peer currency. There\u2019s an important connection between these two momentous events, yet the words \u201cBitcoin,\u201d \u201cblockchain\u201d and \u201ccryptocurrency\u201d draw eye-rolls from those who misunderstand centralization\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n<p>In the autumn of 2008 was the opportunity to begin telling a story: It is up to us \u2014 the cryptographers, privacy lovers, traders, developers, activists and converts \u2014 to carry the torch of decentralization and democracy. If there was ever a tale that deserved to be told, beginning to end, it is this one.<\/p>\n<p>Join me in telling it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-content__disclaimer\"><em>This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"post-content__disclaimer\"><em>The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author\u2019s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div style=\"background: rgb(239, 239, 239); border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px;\"><strong>David Chaum<\/strong> is one of the earliest blockchain researchers and a world-renowned cryptographer and privacy advocate. Known as \u201cThe Godfather of Privacy,\u201d Chaum first proposed a solution for protecting metadata with mix-cascade networks in 1979. In 1982, his dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley became the first known proposal of a blockchain protocol. Chaum developed eCash, the first digital currency, and made numerous contributions to secure voting systems in the 1990s. Today, Chaum is the founder of Elixxir, Praxxis and the XX Network, which combine his decades of research and contributions in cryptography and privacy to deliver state-of-the-art blockchain solutions.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"consulting_newsletter\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/the-loss-of-privacy-why-we-must-fight-for-a-decentralized-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8221; The loss of privacy: Why we must fight for a decentralized future &#8220; If you\u2019re into cryptocurrency or blockchain, there\u2019s a good chance I don\u2019t have to spell out the benefits of decentralization. You\u2019re a first-generation user of a technology that will increasingly define the future of the internet, and you have front-row seats&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":436660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDQvODI5MjViNjAtMzQ5Mi00MGJiLWIzMTAtNGZlN2IzNjIyMmE2LmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15047,74894,74983,93542,74355,48,4965],"class_list":["post-436659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-privacy","tag-blockchain","tag-decentralization","tag-web3","tag-adoption","tag-internet","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}