All Your Data Are Belong to YOU
“For the times they are a-changin’” — Bob Dylan
I have an idea, my idea is straightforward. I think that I should own my data and all the rights to derived data about me in perpetuity. I am not the first to have this idea. That can quickly be verified via the Google. But, something very interesting is happening on the interwebs.
We now have distributed and secure cloud computer (link to 2011 blog post about this), powerful peer to peer networking, distributed storage, the ability to create cloud native applications (link to a 2011 blog post about this), smart contracts, peer to peer networks, and more. All of these technologies are young but improving extremely rapidly. They also stand on the shoulders of giants and very solid computer science. So, finally, I believe I will be able to make progress toward owning my own data, securing and controlling this data and access to it in a reasonable fashion. This is exciting!
What technologies would I need to bring to bear to own my data and access to it without a doubt? It turns out, this is still quite difficult. It is perhaps, impossible to achieve at 100% coverage and zero data leakage. But, one probably would not truly want to hit 100%. That might just mean you are a hermit or dead. But, we might just like to have a more control over our data right?
I have hope! New technologies now exist that offer me the hope to solve this data problem I have. I’ll give brief introduction to each of these technologies and consider how I might approach using them for my data. I call this copy of myself, my data self my data doppleganger (my data twin).
Here are two primary examples of these technologies in my opinion.
Ethereum
Ethereum is essentially a cloud computer / operating system. Or, you might call it a distributed virtual machine. They call it the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). You can “install” application on it and run them as long as the computer is running. Theoretically, forever, even long after you are gone or without your input after it is launched. In August 2011 I wrote an article in reply to a question from a friend asking me if Cloud Computers actually existed because I was talking about them all the time. The article, “Cloud Operating Systems: Do They Exist Yet?” expressed that my answer was no, they do not yet exist.
With the advent of Ethereum, I can change my answer. Yes! At least one cloud computer finally exists and you can finally build cloud native applications.
One of the most intriguing things about Ethereum is the ability to create smart contracts. Smart Contracts are software applications written and compiled to run on the Ethereum distributed computation network. They are defined by Ethereum to be, “computer protocols which verify or enforce the performance of a contractual agreement.” Here is an example in block format from EtherScripter.
That’s a fun way to show a smart contract and even make them. The most recent language of Ethereum based smart contracts is Solidity (github). That language appears to be evolving nicely.
Now that we have a cloud computer for networking and computing, we need a file system and some storage.
Interplanetary File System (IPFS)
IPFS is, as its name suggests, a file system. But, it is more in that as it is positioning itself as an eventual replacement for the world wide web; a permanent world wide web. Needless to say, this would be quite disruptive to many companies and people all on its own.
IPFS allows everyone who participates in the network to take on the burden of storing and sharing files on the network. It does so in a very clever way that is distributed, redundant, persistent, immutable and secure.
There is a whole world of information available about each of these technologies. Here are your getting started links.
Ethereum:
Main Web Site: http://www.ethereum.org
Recent Developer Conference Videos: https://devcon.ethereum.org/
IPFS:
IPFS website http://bit.ly/1VNcLIg
IPFS whitepaper (PDF) http://bit.ly/1N7UdAr
Replication on IPFS http://bit.ly/1GDJfhb
Neocities blog post http://bit.ly/1LfB0tC
Filecoin http://bit.ly/1LfB2lq
Protocol Labs http://bit.ly/1GDJ7OQ
