How Decentralized Web 3.0 Technologies Will Shape the Future of Data Access

Today’s internet is a whole world presented in interactive text and graphics, but if you have been around long enough, you can attest to how far it has come. What primarily comprised of static read-only pages in the Web 1.0 era is now home to intricate websites with more user involvement and easily accessible media. This transformation can be entirely attributed to the mainstream adoption of Web 2.0, a framework that allowed web pages to not only display information but also receive and process input from users.

However, as technology continues to advance, the online world is increasingly uncovering the shortcomings of Web 2.0. Consequently, a buzz around the next frontier of the Web has been brewing. Supported by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, data analytics, the Internet of Things, and most significantly, blockchain-powered decentralized applications, Web 3.0 promises to fill some of the most crucial gaps in the Web 2.0 framework, among them data access.

Read on for a deep dive into how the decentralized Web is geared to transform online data access globally.

The Issues Surrounding Online Data Access Today

Web 2.0’s initial aim was to give internet users more control of the websites they viewed. Still, as years went by, it gradually evolved to become highly centralized around platforms running out of a few massive data centers. The current model presents adverse security, privacy, control, and concentration problems that undermine the reliability of the internet altogether.

Although centralized data storage offers benefits like higher speed and availability, fast throughput, and low latency, they all come at a cost. Giant, dominant cloud storage companies are often suspected of cooperating with governments and giving them access to private data. Moreover, storing massive amounts of data in centralized servers creates single points of failure or attack whose exploitation could be catastrophic.

The authorities can also restrict access to specific content for regulatory or political reasons. Some of the most popular social media platforms and cloud storage solutions have been banned in China, while in 2017, Turkish officials shut down Wikipedia access in the country.

Decentralized Web 3.0 Apps to The Rescue

Experts are confident in the potential of Web 3.0 to revolutionize the foundations of online data management primarily because of its ability to run decentralized web applications (dApps).

DApps are applications that run on distributed computer networks. At the front-end, a dApp can be entirely like a typical Web 2.0 application, but rather than being hosted on a centralized server, its backend software would exist on a network whose access and control are shared among all participants. With dApps, Web 3.0 has the protocols it needs to be independent.

As technology advances, the firm merger of Web 3.0 and blockchain technologies will have significant implications on how data is accessed, consumed, and shared. Let’s have a closer look.

DApps and The Semantic Web

One of the critical goals of Web 3.0 is to enable users to access data with as little effort as possible. Currently, although you can use the internet to perform a wide range of tasks, a machine cannot work on your data without another human’s intervention. Web 3.0 offers a glimpse into the future, where a website or app can understand and process user data regardless of its form by recognizing its meaning.

To accomplish this more in-depth understanding, however, Web 3.0 applications will need to employ artificial intelligence techniques to learn and adapt from their users. For effective learning, however, they must get data from the right users, who, in turn, must be willing to share it.

Decentralized applications run on blockchains that enable instantaneous and autonomous vetting of new members based on requirements that are predetermined consensually by existing members. Moreover, participants can create unique, validated identities to access data in the network without revealing their personal information, which makes them more willing to share information.

With Web 3.0 dApps, the internet can evolve from reading basic keyword searches to assigning deeper meaning to queries. Semantic Web 3.0, supported by blockchain technology, will enable online applications to not only capture a search but learn to understand intent and relations with previous searches to provide more accurate, personalized results.

Democratic Data Sharing

Blockchain technology allows individuals to join decentralized networks on which they can share information amongst themselves independently. The lack of a centralized controlling entity ensures that data on decentralized applications always remains openly accessible to their members.

As long as a majority of the members of the network approve, any piece of data can be shared on the blockchain ledger, which then makes it openly available to all other members. Once published, dApp data cannot be taken down unless the decision is passed by consensus.

Decentralized data management makes Web 3.0 potentially immune to corporate and government control. It also promotes transparency and data immutability, which improves the quality and reliability of the information.

Decentralized cloud storage

Cloud systems store data on remote servers that can be accessed on the internet by authorized parties. Today’s front-line cloud storage solutions use servers that are owned and maintained by individual providers. In contrast, decentralized cloud storage uses distributed, peer-to-peer nodes located around the world as custodians of client data. These nodes are independent and free from the control of service providers.

Distributed data storage and sharing models may have been around since the BitTorrent protocol was invented 20 years ago, but blockchain-powered dApps have effectively learned from their predecessors to offer improved security, privacy and the control of data by their users.

Cryptographic encryption, one of the distinguishing features of a dApp, ensures that data uploaded on the blockchain is only accessible by parties that have the required encryption keys. Cloud storage dApps also have the distinct advantage of distributing the same pieces of data across all nodes. If a node breaks down with your file, you can still find it on other nodes.

Web 3.0 and the future of data

The coming generation of the internet is set to be significantly more useful, reliable, and secure than the iterations that came before it, thanks to its incorporation of groundbreaking technologies like machine learning, cognitive computing, and decentralized blockchain applications.

As power shifts radically from governments and giant companies to automated networks, Web 3.0 will usher in a world where data is truly accessible to all.