Data is the new oil and all private entities are obsessed about getting access to consumer data. There is so much data in the hands of a few global giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon, which leaves them susceptible to intrusion. This has happened more than once with the social networking giant Facebook.
Tim Berners-Lee, the man who gave us the World Wide Web, is now keen on ensuring that users have a say on what data can be shared and what cannot. To make this happen, Tim Berners-Lee is collaborating with people at MIT for this project called Solid, which promises to give users the final say over data.
He also specified that the project is built over existing web formats, but developers still have to incorporate Solid separately into their apps and sites.
Berners-Lee claims to have been working on this project over the past few years, looking at the need for a powerful change to thwart the danger to data these days.
Solid is a platform, built using the existing web. It gives every user a choice about where data is stored, which specific people and groups can access select elements, and which apps you use. It allows you, your family and colleagues, to link and share data with anyone. It allows people to look at the same data with different apps at the same time.Medium post on Solid by Tim Berners-Lee
What kind of innovation is Berners-Lee looking to bring into the data ecosystem and everyone’s digital lifestyle? He plainly puts it out as a collaborative platform where all the apps can talk to each other.
Imagine if all your current apps talked to each other, collaborating and conceiving ways to enrich and streamline your personal life and business objectives? That’s the kind of innovation, intelligence and creativity Solid apps will generate.Medium post on Solid by Tim Berners-Lee
To make sure Solid sees itself out of the tunnel, Berners-Lee recused himself of his responsibilities at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and formed a startup called Inrupt to get things moving.
It’s exciting to see the web pioneer once again looking to change the dynamics of how the web revolves around users’ data.
Facebook and Google are the major stakeholders here, but in 2018, there are few companies that can survive on the internet without accruing data from the user. But it doesn’t have to be the only available option and we’re glad that Berners-Lee, is the one championing the need to change it.
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