Jetsons, Web3 and the future of personal data
From sci-fi movies to the Dataverse. Rethinking personal data privacy.
The idea of handing over our personal data and access to our internet browsing habits in order to access online services is something so common, we don’t even question it anymore.
But the possibility of a Web built on a set of decentralized technologies, also known as Web3, may lead us to a new paradigm: the return of personal data to its true owner, the people.
Imagine if we had ownership of our personal data and could determine who accesses it and how it is used. Why do we need to rethink privacy in today’s global data economy that runs centrally on Web2?
That’s what we’ll look at in today’s article.
From science fiction movies to “Data Verse”
Many ideas that emerged in science fiction books, movies and cartoons fifty years ago helped us shape the reality we live in today.
And to illustrate what we are talking about, let’s take as an example the cartoon “the Jetsons”, whose debut on American TV took place in 1962, and told the adventures of a family living 100 years ahead in the future, in the year 2062.
This cartoon was full of futuristic technologies in the middle of the sixties. But did you know that even though we are not yet in 2062, many of these technologies exists today?
Sure, bringing an idea from fiction to reality is not easy. Most core technologies take on average 30 to 50 years to become reality and show their full potential.
Just as the “initial idea” of video calls and much of what we experience today came from the Jetsons cartoon, other science fiction movies and books can show us what the future of data might look like.
I’m talking here about the concept of “Dataverse”, a space where data is open, more accessible and shared freely, but without violating people’s privacy.
Imagine a platform that enabled us to transact our data, and still pay us for it? This is the norm in science fiction movies and books, although it does not yet exist in today’s real world.
In Neal Stephenson’s book “Snow Crash”, the protagonist Hiro is a Gig Economy worker who collects “digital intelligence” and puts it into a massive data marketplace, similar to what Ocean Protocol is building today.
Users of this data marketplace can then access this library to search for the information they want, as long as they pay the data owners for its use.
While Wikipedia exists today, it clearly falls far short of a truly structured, real-time library of data and collective intelligence.
Well, if a data market is the norm in science fiction culture, will we be able to achieve this paradigm in a few years? What is needed for this?
The answer to this question is not simple.
How big is the current data economy and how does it work?
Quantifying today’s global data economy is a Herculean task, because it requires quantifying the value generated by the “generation, collection, storage, processing, distribution, analysis, elaboration, delivery and exploitation” of data enabled by digital technologies.
With this in mind, Statista estimates that the value of the data economy in the UK and EU in 2020 was around $440 billion, and growth is projected to reach up to $1 trillion in the next three years. See Statista’s chart here.
In today’s Web2 model, every company ends up being a data company that, with access to email records, and other information — such as details about car rentals, restaurant trips, hotel accommodations, favorite music and movies, and credit card spending of ordinary citizens — uses it to make profits.
That is, our behavioral data ends up making up what Shoshana Zuboff calls the “Age of Surveillance Capitalism” — a prediction market for human behavior, where companies use what they know about ordinary citizens’ data to influence our behavior.
How many times have you done a search on the internet about a product, and then started to receive on your cell phone, or even in your email, advertisements and advertising about this same product?
In the current stage of Web2, whose architecture is centralized, applications capture our personal information and data in an unlimited way, often without our knowledge and consent, enabling companies and governments to use this information to influence our future behavior.
And what sounds unreasonable here is the fact that people have not given their consent to the collection of this huge amount of data, the real reason for the emergence of data protection laws, and the idea that we need decentralized, peer-to-peer connectivity without the data-collecting middlemen, what is known as the next stage of the internet: the Web3.
For most people, the idea of data privacy can seem a little ridiculous. Whether due to lack of time or patience, we end up eagerly clicking on terms and conditions or cookie banners to get to what we need straight away.
The thing is, when we enter our data into an online form, we have no idea how our data will be used…
Why do we need to rethink personal data privacy?
Some scandals — such as the case of data analytics firm Cambrigde Analytica, which influenced the outcome of the Brexit vote and elections in several countries — have exposed the dark side of the misuse of our data by social networks and shown us that the idea of a decentralized web is not a whim, but a necessity.
Web3, which is still in its infancy, brings us a different way of handling data between parties, one that could effectively address the challenges of the current Web2 model.
Web3 applications based on public blockchains, which are more resistant to fraud and censorship, can help increase levels of privacy, data protection and truly return ownership of data to individuals.
The peer-to-peer capabilities of blockchain applications and other decentralized Web3 technologies can truly mean a fundamental shift in today’s Web2-structured data economy.
An expanding ecosystem
Today, it is possible to see in the real world some impact of the evolution of technologies like blockchain on privacy.
In the virtual worlds that will form the Metaverse in the not-too-distant future, it is possible to connect your wallet and buy digital goods in the form of NFTs, without having to go through a sign-up process.
Also, decentralized marketplaces — which will allow users to trade a whole range of digital and physical goods — are already under construction, while developments such as Zero Knowledge Proof provide greater privacy to transactions while allowing an additional layer of verification.
The “zero-knowledge proof” could make it possible, for example, for a supplier to check whether someone is over 18, but without the buyer having to hand over a copy of their identity documents to be retained by the seller.
A long road ahead
According to the Wu Blockchain report, venture funds poured $3.67 billion into web3 startups in June and $4.45 billion in May, indicating a bright future ahead.
However, while Web3 offers the opportunity to transform and rationalize the Web2 data model, and is one of the hottest technology topics of the moment, real-world products and services based on Web3 technologies are in their infancy and will take at least 10 years to reach the optimal stage of development.
In the current scenario, users need to educate themselves to keep their private keys safe. Otherwise, anything of value stored in the digital wallets — here included cryptocurrencies, NFTs or personal data — can be hacked.
Even if a user manages to keep their wallet secure, there is still the risk that the underlying applications could be hacked or that the project itself is a “rug pull”, where founders dump tokens on the market and disappear.
User experience is another issue. Ethereum remains the most popular public blockchain platform, but the fees to execute a transaction are high, which makes it not suitable for low-value transactions.
Here, it is important to point out, however, that many of these issues are teething problems faced by any new technology, and should not detract from the fact that Web3 represents the first real opportunity to solve the Web2 data model.
Can Web3 really enable a new data economy?
Opponents to a decentralized web, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are not few.
But is it worth underestimating all the beneficial potential that Web 3 and its suite of decentralized technologies can bring not only to data protection, but to society as a whole?
Undoubtedly, many criticisms are well-founded and, as long as they are constructive, should be considered.
It is necessary to take into account, however, that many critics are traditional players who, instead of being interested in “protecting” consumers and social interests, are actually only interested in maintaining the “status quo” and their current power.
Have you ever watched a Jetsons cartoon?
Do you agree that much of what is reality today originated in the imaginary work of science fiction? Or do you think that decentralization, Web3 and owning your own data are just small talk?
Have you heard of Ocean Market, a data marketplace in the spirit of Web3 whose interoperable protocol is already implemented on the Ethereum, Polygon, Polkadot, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Moonriver, and Energy Web Chain blockchains?
It will be a long way before a truly decentralized Web enables a new era with a new data economy.
But I don’t doubt that we can get there. After all, what is imagination or reality?
Knowledge is power! See you soon!
