News & Ideas

Get the latest news and ideas from a community of dedicated advocates excited about the freedom and privacy decentralized architecture offers.

News

The Arrogance of Big Tech

What is it about technology companies and their nearly universal disregard for users, regulators and even society? Swimming in huge piles of cash like Scrooge McDuck, have they forgotten the difference between right & wrong?

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News

Guilt by Association

Google Maps is a very convenient navigational tool used by millions around the world however, this ‘free’ tool comes at a potentially very high price. The convenience of having a phone with built-in GPS allows you to find your way around an unfamiliar city while on vacation, but it can also land you in hot water if police execute a geo-fence warrant – and your phone happens to be on the list.

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Technology

The Decentralists – Decentralization Education Episode 7: Single sign-on

This episode, we define Single sign-on (SSO) solutions for identity management, and we’re thrilled to get some help from a very special guest. Dr. Geoffrey Goodell is a senior research associate in the financial computing and analytics group at the department of computer science at University College London.

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News

To Compete or not to Compete

As early as 2008, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook famously declared that “it is better to buy than to compete.” With Zuckerberg already on record as a big fan of anti-competitive behaviour four years earlier than the Instagram purchase, why did the FTC give its blessing to the transaction?

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Blog

Hook Up Who’s Who?

Dating Apps already collect comprehensive and sensitive personally identifiable data (PII). Your name, address, birthday, photos, city, phone number, and email are all part of your online dating profile.

I understand the need to ensure that people you meet on dating sites are real, however, what does Tinder validating someone’s driver’s license actually accomplish?

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Identity

The Decentralists – Decentralization Education Episode 6: Self-Sovereign Identity

out Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), a topic that is near and dear to our hearts. Dr. Geoffrey Goodell, associate professor at UCL and research lead at The Peer Social Foundation join us to break down a difficult concept into something we can all understand.

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Social

If Anti-trust Laws, Content Controls & Regulations can’t fix Facebook – What can?

The Biden administration in the US is signaling its intention to update anti-trust regulations by appointing hot shot anti-trust lawyers to run the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the National Economic Council and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. But will it be enough?

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Social

No Fans for You!

OnlyFans was founded in 2016 as an online social network allowing ‘digital creatives’ to build an audience and monetize directly with their ‘Fans’. In theory this was a wonderful idea that I have supported for years. In practice however, OnlyFans has grown to 120 million subscribers by hosting – almost exclusively – ‘pay-for-play’ pornography.

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Technology

The Internet: “Free Access” Comes At A Price

When you ‘log-in’ to an app or site you are exchanging your data and identity for the use of that service—while the app may be “free” it most certainly comes at a price.

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Social

Facebook: The Most Dangerous Influencer

Facebook is a juggernaut not only in social media but also when it comes to wielding massive political influence. With such power, the responsibility to maintain a balanced political representation…

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