Take back control of your data through Blockchain!
The Cambridge Analytica scandal poses some serious questions about the state of privacy on the internet, especially in this data age. We’re producing tons of data every time we open a browser window and every time we make a contactless payment. We do this without thinking but, sadly, the Cambridge Analytica Scandal gave us a reality check: Our data is not in our control.
In recent years, we’ve had many data breaches. From Facebook to Equifax, the credit rating firm which was hacked for home address and social security numbers for over 180 million people. The worst part of this scandal was that the people who were affected had no idea the company was holding information in the first place. This clearly demonstrates how weak we are in terms of controlling information, specifically, about us.
This is clearly a time to radically rethink about the data we’re producing and what we are doing to make sure it’s secure. We need a comprehensive strategy and a steep change in mindset to safeguard our privacy. So how do we regain control of this sea of information?
Blockchain technology is one of the potential solutions to this vast proliferation. Blockchains are distributed ledger systems — that is, information is stored not in a single, centralised database, but in a potentially infinite number of places. Blockchains store immutable records and they are distributed among every user, each of whom has their own private cryptographic key. This presents an opportunity. Rather than yielding our most sensitive information to every shop or platform we interact with online, we could instead store it in a decentralised ledger, free from a single point of failure. Connect that technology to existing payment systems and platforms, and combine it with biometric security features on our smartphones or tablets and we could then enjoy significantly more control over what information we share with whom — and say goodbye to passwords at the same time.
But there’s a major problem with the application of blockchain technology in this way: privacy. If our data is stored everywhere, how can it be private?
To solve this, researchers at MIT are working on the Enigma project that introduces the concept of “Secret Contracts”. This simply means that the nodes on the blockchain and able to compute data without ever seeing it. The researchers claim that this allows users to maintain control over personal data, particularly through preventing its monetisation or analysis by platforms. They also claim that it could unlock a new system of lending, in which prospective borrowers can establish their trustworthiness without having to give individual lenders access to their specific personal data.
Blockchain techniques are already being adopted at local and national levels. There is significant work being done to shift the focus of blockchain technology away from pure currency speculation towards real-world applications — especially around privacy and storage.
To conclude, the data breaches in recent years have demonstrated without doubt that our management of data is broken. Blockchain could help us fix it.
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‘Till next time.
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