It seems that many online are confused about data. Actually, we have to be more accurate and state "who owns the data".
Make make statements about what is happening with data. Unfortunately, this seems to be counter to what actually takes place.
Anyone who follows my articles, or basically anything on the Internet, understands that data is very valuable. This only increased with the introduction of large language models (LLM) and other forms of generative AI. Data is the food to train these systems.
Hence, the saying "data is the new oil" holds a degree of truth. Obviously, not all data is equal with some being more valuable than other. However, it gives us enough of a sense of what is taking place.
Therefore, it is worthy to dive into the concept of who owns the data and how the perception if off. We will also cover how Web 3.0 is different yet also misunderstood.
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Possession 9/10ths The Law
You most likely heard this saying. It is highly applicable to data.
When I read someone proclaiming "they stole my data", I wonder what how they drew this conclusion. How it is "their data"? I know many are indoctrinated by YouTubers into believing they have ownership but this is completely false. Of course, they are most talking about the social media companies like X, Meta, and Google.
The reality is these entities did not steal the data. People who state that refuse to accept responsibility. Instead, each and every person opted to provide the data to them Nobody was force to post on Facebook. Yet each month, billions visit that and the Meta sister sites.
People spend hours bouncing around, adding more to Meta's servers. That company pays for the processors, stores the data, and charges the users nothing for the services.
Hence, people are voluntarily placing the data on these nodes. They use a front end designed by the company, which is owns and integrates with backend equipment, also paid for by the same entity.
How does one conclude that it is their data?
Naturally, this is different from hacking and having one's information stolen. Here is something that obviously is a criminal activity, one that no party is subscribing to (other than the hacker).
When it comes to Web 2.0, there is another issue. As most are becoming aware, we do not own our accounts. These can be shutdown at anytime, without warning. The common reason provided is the proverbial "breaking the terms of service". To get it back requires a ton of effort and the willingness on the companies part.
This certainly affects one's digital life. Of course, we have to keep in mind it is resident completely on their services, using their authentication mechanisms.
The idea we have to accept is "it is theirs".
Web 3.0: Open Data
Some like to frame Web 3.0 as owning our data. This is not quite accurate either.
The major difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 is account ownership. Since it uses a key system, nobody can take that away. Each person retains sovereignty over his or her digital life.
This alone is a major step forward, especially if we consider where things are potentially going regarding digital twins and things of that nature.
But what about the data? Do we own that?
The short answer is no. Any data provided by people utilizing Web 3.0 platforms is not theirs. However, unlike Web 2.0, it is not in the hands of a company.
Instead, data in Web 3.0 is communal: it is owned by nobody. Another way of looking at this is that the data is the property of everyone.
Web 3.0 democratizes data. This is probably its most important function at this time.
We see this if we look at a database like Hive, which is a decentralized blockchain. Like most public blockchains, the software runs on a set of unassociated servers. Individuals set up nodes which adds blocks, i.e. maintains the database. Since this is text, anything that is posted via an application is written to chain.
Anyone who has enough tokens to transact can utilize the database. It is permissionless.
At the same time, whatever is written to the database can be utilized by anyone. There is also no approval requires to set up an API and pull whatever data is desired.
Thus, we can look at Web 3.0 as account ownership and communal data.
Humanity's Database
We can think of this as humanity's database.
This is not the case with Web 2.0 applications. It is clear they value their data, taking steps to lock down access. Big Tech realizes how valuable it is and seeks to maintain that.
Each time some posts a tweet, a comment on a FB wall, or a YouTube video, it is feeding these corporations. To contrast, each time a Web 3.0 application writes to a decentralized, permissionless database, that data is effectively owned by humanity.
So the question is which are we going to feed?
Obviously, the numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of Web 2.0. The bright part of this is they had a big head start but Web 3.0 can shift the balance.
As data becomes harder to come access, especially by start ups, there is going to be a greater demand for it. At the same time, people are going to realize that, with advanced technological power, the idea in the hands of a few companies might not be in the best interest on humanity.
Here is where Web 3.0 offers a solution.
The democratization of data is a real thing. It is a race to control what is on the Internet and who has access. The reality is individuals who post online do not own their data (unless they are the one's who own the server). That said, the question truly is do you want a corporation to own the data or prefer it to belong to humanity?