Centralized organizations are a major point of vulnerability. They are puppets for governments, even if they do not want to be.
This is being highlighted with the latest actions by the UK government against Apple.
Under the Snooper's Charter (interesting name), the UK is seeking a back door to Apple cloud services. The data is encrypted so not even Apple can view it. However, the government wants blanket access. This will offer it availability to data not only in the UK but across the world.
It is similar to a call that Hillary Clinton made back when she was running for president claiming the government had a right to require back doors to the private data of companies and individuals.
Sadly, this is simply how government people think. They believe that everything any of us has is theirs. The narrative of national security (or for the children) are used to eradicate rights. Over time, it simply keeps on compounding.
This is why we have to turn to technology for the solutions.
Image from article linked below
UK Snooper's Charter Shows The Need For Decentralized Cloud
It is becoming a more dangerous world and government is at the center of this.
Under the scenario described above, you have no rights. Anything can be put in your cloud account, including child porn or terrorist information and Apple is none the wiser. The government can simply state it was on there, charging you with being part of a larger organization.
Does that sound conspiracy theorist to you? Do you believe that governments have not charged (and convicted) innocent people?
With the advancement in technology, they do not need to put a kilo of heroin in your vehicle. Instead, simply upload some damning stuff to your cloud account.
The UK government demands backdoor access to all iCloud data (not just UK users’ data) under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
Apple hasn’t officially responded, and under the Snooper’s Charter terms, it won’t be allowed to notify users if encryption is compromised.
Experts warn this could set a dangerous precedent, making user data vulnerable to hackers and government overreach.
To its credit, Apple tends to fight these. The worst part is that politicians are not even the main culprits involved. This mostly stems from the bureaucrats, often in the security agencies. That said, we can see how political opponents could be targeted.
Another factor is business information. Anything that is stored by any company around the world could be accessed. Forget China, the UK would instantly become the top thief of data....and they would do it legally.
The UK has been against the end-to-end encryption policy since the day of its announcement in 2022. The government’s argument is that end-to-end encryption services make it easier for terrorists and criminals to hide and protect their conversations from the government.
There you have it. The government lumps everyone in with criminals and terrorists.
It is another reason for the downfall of Western Europe but that is for another article.
The Solution: Decentralized Cloud
Distributed computing is the answer for much of what hinders us in the digital world. Going forward, we are going to require a great deal more compute along with storage. For this reason, the shift away from centralized entities could naturally take place.
For example, the ability to fulfill all the inference needs cannot be done by Big Tech. It simply is going to be a number too big for even them.
As we see with storage, the move away from centralized entities is going to be necessary. Governments simply cannot help themselves. Politicians and bureaucrats are the same across the world. To them, it is about power. Even if a ruling party is favorable to privacy, political winds change. Governments offer no protection when they are the predators.
Of course, corporations tend to fold also. Hell, most often they are working in conjunction. This is on top of governments working together.
One way this is done is to have another government to provide the data. WIth this move by the UK, it gives the US government (or members thereof) full access. Since it is illegal for the USG to pull the data, i.e. Apple can tell them to pound sand without a warrant, it simply turns to the UK. If the Brits had the global data, they simply could provide it to whomever asked.
Even if Apple fights it, will Google? Amazon? Microsoft?
Google is an example of how things could work against people. Even if the company wants to fight it, there are other issues before the EU. Perhaps Google cuts a deal to get out of the antitrust lawsuit by agreeing to open access.
This is just a scenario where vulnerability exists.
For this reason, corporations are no more dependable than governments. They will sell us out also. Hence, the need to take matters in our own hands.
Blockchain is showing us how things can be done. While encryption isn't the most common feature, it does exist. Over time, we could see decentralized databases emerging which do offer end-to-end encryption.
Cryptocurrency offers the ability to incentivize participation. The benefit to information technology is costs decline while capabilities increase. Nothing epitomizes this better than storage over the years. Costs plummeted while storage capacity exploded. Ironic, this is what allowed the cloud business to thrive.
This is a pathway forward, at least until quantum encryption is available.
As always, we come back to trust and confidence in governments around the world are collapsing.