Wherever you go, everyone in the tech space is talking about Web3. The crypto market is currently flooded with projects that claim to be devoted to bringing about the future of the internet, and enthusiasts for this technology have continued to press that they won’t focus until the world is engulfed by Web3.
For now, the overwhelming majority of people believe that Web3 will indeed be the future of the internet. The concept is built on wrestling power away from the big tech platforms that seem to have unique control over how the internet works.
While the argument about whether Web3 will be the future of crypto continues to rage on, a major stipulation with the current internet we’re using is the issue of data safety. Over the past few years, more people have bemoaned the state of confidentiality in the current internet infrastructure. If “Big Tech” isn’t spying on you, it’s your mobile carrier – or perhaps it’s some hacker somewhere. Everywhere you go, it seems like someone is trying to look into what you’re doing.
It goes without saying that Web3 will need to provide an improvement on safety. The internet only has a few areas to be better, and anonymity is one of those metrics where it needs to improve.
So, what does Web3 hold for identity safety?
An Introduction To Decentralization
One of the biggest concepts that make up Web3 is decentralization. We’re already seeing this with decentralized finance (DeFi), which has already become more than a phenomenon in our financial system. Proponents of Web3 have claimed that it will bolster user anonymity by putting the individual in control of their data. Instead of sending all data to a single repository, Web3 aims to spread data transfer across networks – whether a network of devices or a network of servers.
However, the critics of Web3 have also claimed that public ledgers – or blockchain – aren’t so effective in maintaining confidentiality. The point of blockchain – itself another pillar of decentralization and Web3 – is to offer a way for everyone to view data. So, if your data is visible to all, how is it meant to be kept private?
Speaking about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), The Secrecy Network said earlier this year:
“Right now, Web3 requires you to give up privacy entirely. NFTs and blockchains are all public-by-default and terrible for ownership and security.”
When you choose to participate in a public blockchain, you don’t actually need to make your identity known. However, it is possible for platforms – or, really, anyone – to link your identity to the transactions you’re involved in. this is the same principle that allows exchanges to track transactions and treat identity theft cases and hacks to some degree of success.
In a report on the issue, Brave – the most popular data-focused browser in the world – as well as the Imperial College of London claimed that many DeFi protocols integrate third-party platforms that can eventually gain access to the Ethereum addresses of users.
“We find that several DeFi sites rely on third parties and occasionally even leak your Ethereum address to those third parties – mostly to API and analytics providers,” explained the researchers. In fact, the researchers claimed that a single tracker could actually access the Ethereum addresses of 56 per cent of the DeFi protocols that they analyzed.
In theory, these third-party services could link these Ethereum addresses to other personal information that they hold on users. As the researchers cautioned:
“Ethereum address leakage to Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is particularly problematic because the company likely already has PII about you, which it can then link to your Ethereum address, which can then be linked to your transaction history on the blockchain.”
It means that for Web3 to truly be private, it is critical to find a way for blockchain transactional data to be separated from personally identifiable information. Transactions need to be protected, meaning that no one should be able to use them to link back to you.
Fortunately, this is giving rise to alternative blockchain protocols and platforms. As the demand for data safety continues to rise, we’re seeing the growth of protocols that focus more specifically on promoting the anonymity of users. Some of these platforms focus on building for individuals, while others focus on protecting entire ecosystems.
One of the most interesting confidentiality services is the Super Protocol – a Web3 super cloud that focuses on building safety solutions for the new internet evolution. Super Protocol combines blockchain technology and several other critical confidentiality computing technologies to create a universal, decentralized cloud computing platform.
Super Protocol is building for a Web3 ecosystem that is beyond cryptocurrencies. It is essentially the Web3 version of cloud services like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS) and more. While these traditional services focus on maintaining safety and uptime in Web2, Super Protocol has evolved into the Web3 landscape.
With these services, it will be easier to optimize safety and keep confidentiality maintained – especially as protocols are looking to scale and grow their user bases. We already have the early signs that Web3 can be the future of the internet.
If anything, the rise of DeFi, NFTs, blockchain gaming, and other concepts have already shown that we’re looking to find more years and seasons of growth of Web3. As more users come to know the benefits of this internet revolution, they will be critical to the mission to maintain user confidentiality.