A Better Internet is Coming. Here’s How It Will Look.
By: Arthur Fontaine
Tags: Solid, Privacy, Web, Rights Managed, Internet

A better internet: Your experience

The decentralized web (d-web) is a better version of the internet, and is in development now. The following describes how it will look to any end user.

What’s the same?

Getting Started

To join the d-web, you simply sign up with an e-mail address, either in a browser or by installing an app on a mobile device. It’s completely free and there’s no lock-in: you can choose any hosting service that supports the open standards, and you can move seamlessly to a competing service any time you wish.

Day-to-Day Usage

Using the d-web is very much like using the web today. You can do all the same things, and can use all the same services. You create, share, and consume content the same way you do today, and you have access to all the same capabilities (IM, email, posts/tweets, file sharing, voice/video, etc.).

What’s Different?

How Your Data is Stored

When you create your d-web account, the hosting service creates a private, highly secure container just for you, called a pod (“personal online data”). No one else can see what’s inside, even the hosting service. Your main cloud pod also syncs with secure containers on your various devices. Your pod includes rich tools to manage, and selectively share, everything it contains.

Privacy and Rights

On the d-web, all your data is created and stored in your pod, so it’s private by default. You may choose to explicitly share anything, and you can modify or remove access to any data at any time. Every interaction or communication is encrypted end-to-end by default, so only you and the other party(ies) ever see any content.

Anything you choose to share is governed by your terms of use, which you select and manage using a standardized, universal format. All terms are legally enforceable.

Communication and Sharing

For direct or group interactions, you just select a contact and choose the mode you want to use — e.g., message, text, call, or share. You don’t need a third party service because your pod has all those capabilities built in.

For public communications, you’ll still need content aggregators of different types — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, reddit, etc. However, because it’s created and stored in your pod, you can also grant competing services access to the same data, including in many cases your historical data from services you’ve used for years. You can therefore change services, or even switch back and forth, any time you wish.

Apps and Services

Apps (device apps or web apps) also access the same data. You decide which ones to use based on feature/function, or perhaps specific attributes like accessibility or language localization. You can switch among and between apps at will. These apps can only read from, or write to, your pod, so exfiltration or monetization of your personal data is not even possible.

Similarly, public internet services must compete for your patronage, across all dimensions including privacy, performance, reliability, and flexibility — e.g., the freedom to use third party apps to connect. If you decide to stop using one, all your data is deleted. Services can see the data you share because they share it with others on your behalf, but they must accept your terms of use regarding what they can do with that data.

New Apps and Services

Because d-web apps are just programs that run atop your pod, anyone on the planet can write one, without the need to stand up a full service stack. And since apps operate across your consolidated data set, limitless innovations and integrations are possible — for example, viewing all interactions with someone on one screen, or leveraging your personal calendar in any app.

A new class of collaborative apps addresses specialized but common scenarios. For example, an app for your scout troop, or a wedding planner, or a beauty shop management app. These guided solutions contain all the logic, integrations, and content for that specific task, and allow automatic sharing, privately or publicly. If you find one you like better, you can just start using it, without any loss of data or context.

Identity and Reputation

On the d-web, you create and manage your own identity, and everyone connects to that consolidated version. Like your data, you can share specific elements of your identity, and modify or remove access at any time.

An un-spoofable, universal reputation system lets you clearly identify real human beings, while filtering out bots, trolls, impostors, and sockpuppets. Every interaction is cryptographically verified, so you can be certain of any party’s identity at all times.

Passwords and Authentication

Passwords go away on the d-web; all logins happen in the background using your pod’s credentials. Or you can selectively exercise anonymity, while still retaining the data you create.

Advertising

Advertising is nonexistent by default on the d-web, but you can selectively enable it, governed by your terms. You may choose to accept ads in return for things like free hosting services, or even microcurrency payments. For example, sites and services can offer to share ad revenue. You could spend that cash, or redirect it to positive activities such as funding journalism through news subscriptions, or to support local or special interest sites.

eCommerce and Payments

All your online (and potentially offline) purchasing history is available privately to you, in a single interface. You can review what you purchased and what you paid for anything, and see the best current price and availability for an item in case you want to buy it again.

Payments can be made directly to any vendor, with no credit card or bank info shared. You simply push cash (currency or cryptocurrency) on demand to any other party, from within any app.

Permissions and Settings

Permissions no longer operate at the device or service level. You declare and maintain them in your cloud pod, and they propagate across all your devices. Apps are tightly restricted to access only what they need, and only when they need it.

Settings are also centrally managed in your pod. Privacy preferences, app configurations, preferred communication methods, even wallpapers and desktop layouts can be declared and maintained in one place.

Ownership and Control

You legally own all the data in your pod, and retain complete control over its usage. You are free to retain, modify, or permanently delete anything you wish.

Your pod is an asset that grows in value over your lifetime, accruing all the content you create, generate, or acquire (e.g., music, movies, books). When you die, you can bequeath your pod to someone (or more than one person), or you can simply set it to expire when it sees that you have.