You probably have seen the new pop-up asking to agree to the new Terms of Service and Privacy policy, and it's seriously making me consider leaving Steemit.
NEW TERMS
Firstly, the whole deal feels like it is contra-intuitive in a decentralized world. I realize that Steemit Inc. is a centralized gateway to the STEEM blockchain, which has to comply with laws but that still doesn't mean I have to like it.Some issues I have with the privacy statement include:
- Collecting personal information such as my telephone number (wtf?). If you want my email that's fine and it should be enough.
- They can change the privacy policy at any time, it says so in the statement itself
- They say they won't sell the information, but the new policy also states that they may share it when they do a new business deal and such
- The policy states they may use the privacy information for "reasons not described in this Privacy Policy" and that sounds fishy to me too
None of this sounds to me like it fits within how I experience and view the decentralized blockchain revolution and I am seriously wondering if I want to accept these terms. So far I have not. I have no idea how I'm still able to post through Steemit without having accepted it, but I think I was lucky to have the screen open before the new policy pop-up appeared.
MOVING TO BUSY?
STEEM is decentralized but Steemit isn't. I think this shows we need more variety in STEEM interfaces. Right now our options are limited to Steemit, Busy.org, Esteem. I am seriously considering moving over to Busy.org for the time being as I don't think they have this privacy policy or TOS (yet). But they are a centralized STEEM interface just as Steemit is, so I doubt it will be a long term solution. Esteem is nice, but mobile only, which is not an option for me as a content creator.Then there's the desktop STEEM client Vessel, but it only lets you access your STEEM and not actually make posts or read them (I think).
If STEEM is to be truly decentralized we need a proper desktop client and many more STEEM interfaces.
What do you all think of this new development? Do you know of any other STEEM interfaces/websites besides Steemit?