We need to break out of the Big Tech data broker industry

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Democracy is under siege. Our digital fingerprints are on sale. And digital ownership is being crushed by a small group of tech giants who control the internet as we know it.

The Internet is one of the most powerful and promising creations in human history. It connects the world, democratizes information, and provides capabilities that enhance the potential of many aspects of our lives. But innovation brought about change. Now, when users access information online, they hand over personal data points in exchange for that information.

As the Internet evolved into what is now known as Web 2.0, it also created its own competing platforms of user-generated content, each presiding over its own “walled garden.” Meanwhile, the advent of social media has changed the way we connect and interact.

The existing incentive structure of today’s Internet has enabled the creation and growth of a small number of multi-billion dollar, highly centralized technology companies, effectively building the data broker industry. They are omnipresent in our daily lives, and their only goal is constant growth, achieved by maximizing advertising revenue at all costs.

To achieve this growth, they continually need more data. Every day, data is collected and traded from everyone and on every conceivable subject with little regard for individual privacy or well-being. And we gave major companies free access to this data. Traditional social media platforms are operated as centralized services by these big tech companies that are motivated and monetized by advertising revenue.

As a result, you can control your experience, including what content appears in your feed, how your personal data is used for advertising purposes, and the connections you make online. It is estimated that online advertising companies collect about 72 million data points about each of us by the time we reach his 13th birthday. We freely give out millions of pieces of information about ourselves without even realizing we are doing so.

This is not good for developers. The current state of the Internet limits developers’ ability to have creative control. It has fallen into a platform that relies on innovators having to compromise their values ​​in exchange for access. Before an application can access an API, it must obtain permission and seek approval. This ultimately means that someone else (Big Tech’s central organization) is in control of whether a developer’s application is successful or not.

Consumer protection agencies, intelligence agencies, the U.S. Congress, and U.S. federal agencies are increasingly concerned, and so should we all. We are now at a fork in the road. The era of new technology is upon us, giving more power to consumers, more freedom to developers, and more opportunities for innovation. The time has come for new web protocols that are user-focused, open source, and decentralized.

The next version of the Web, or Web3 as it is now known, will be a decentralized, user-driven, open network where information can be exchanged and networks can interoperate. And most importantly, users own and control their personal data. The global Web3 blockchain market size is expected to reach $2.25 billion in 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 47.1%. By 2030, its value is expected to exceed $30 billion.

Solutions such as Decentralized Social Networking Protocols (DSNP) are essential to returning power from the centralized authorities that manage the platforms to the people who use them. DSNP is an open and free protocol that allows each user to retain ownership of their data and interactions. Personal data is therefore no longer a corporate asset, but is owned and controlled by users in a community-driven public infrastructure.

DSNP also gives developers the ability to realize their dreams of creating impactful technologies that benefit users and solve real-world problems without being tied to the interests of big tech companies.

DSNP provides a way back to the web as originally envisioned. Web protocols focused on common interests. This prevents any entity from controlling access, determining prices, or revoking permissions. DSNP leverages the best properties of blockchain, while also having the ability to scale to help creators orchestrate their desire to innovate and problem-solve in an environment that benefits all individuals.

By leveraging free open protocols and blockchain technology, developers can take back control of their applications and develop open source code that is shared publicly, enabling a collaborative development process.

We are at a pivotal moment in technology transformation, and developers will play a critical role in building the foundation for a safer, healthier internet that empowers people across platforms. . Imagine an Internet where success depends on creativity, problem solving, and user experience. With open and free protocols, developers don’t have to follow existing rules set by Big Tech companies and can instead focus on the creative future of what the next generation of the internet will look like. What are we delaying?