If you been ardently following our news updates, then you would have come across an article published last week about CISA and how it is going to impact the privacy of individuals not just in the United States but across the world.
FURTHER READING: Right to Privacy, What Is That? – CISA
CISA is going to affect the privacy of most of the internet users across the world because of a simple reason – Most of the email and chat service providers except for a handful are based out of the United States and a majority of the computers and smartphones either run on operating systems created by Apple, Google or Microsoft who have set up shop in Cupertino, Mountain View and Redmond respectively. User data collected by these giants are now open to the US Government and indirectly to its so-called allies which include the UK, NATO Alliance and selected countries in the Middle East and Asia.
Now, people are left with limited options. Either stop using the internet or start investing in some encryption software or forget about the concept of privacy. However, mentioned in the same article last week was the concept of decentralized internet and how it can come to the rescue along with certain encryption technologies which are similar to that of the Bitcoin protocol. There are people at MaidSafe and other startups who are already working on the decentralized internet. Even the Ethereum project can contribute a lot towards the development of decentralized internet and applications as it is already wading in those waters.
READ MORE: MaidSafe Decentralizes the Internet, Makes It Safe and Secure
Now there is one more player who is working on creating a decentralized internet network (yeah I know the usage of the word ‘network’ besides ‘internet’ makes it redundant). This decentralized internet will be powered by millions of devices called smartphones which we can find anywhere across the world these days. Kim Dotcom, the internet ‘mega’ mogul, fugitive in the eyes of the United States is the person who is going to build Meganet, the decentralized internet harnessing the power of smartphones.
Kim Dotcom, while speaking at the SydStart summit in Australia over Skype explained how his Meganet project will harness the processing power of mobile phones and combines the blockchain technology to offer a safe and secure communication network. Kim Dotcom’s has claimed that he has created a new form of blockchain technology that will enable phones to power a faster and less data intensive network. In order to join forces with Kim Dotcom on his new Meganet project, all one will have to do is download the Meganet application on their smartphones and contribute to the phone’s processing power.
If Kim Dotcom manages to pull it off, Meganet will definitely prove to be an alternative to the internet, without all the baggage.
Image: Kim Dotcom graffiti by Thierry Ehrmann (CC BY 2.0)