To Succeed, Web3 Must Become Human-centered

Web2 may be easier than ever to use, but its users are plagued by personal data theft and other security risks. Here’s how Web3 can do better.
 
The current digital world is filled with innovations that are human-centered and enable a smooth experience for users globally. Through universal symbols, universal layouts, translation tools and the more recent biometric scanners, Web2 is aiming to augment personalization and customization within its virtual world. This bodes well as the global landscape is changing rapidly to incorporate modern technology and digitization into its daily transactions.
 
But this is also where Web2’s inherent framework of centralized control and restricted user autonomy exposes the hypocrisy in its foundational principles. For example, in 2019, the fingerprints, facial recognition information, unencrypted usernames and passwords, and personal information of over 1 million employees of Suprema, a security company, was discovered on a publicly accessible database due to vulnerabilities in their web-based Biostar 2 biometrics lock system that was centrally controlled. Today, almost every smartphone has the user’s fingerprint, facial recognition, voice or retina scan information stored. While external threats are difficult to detect, having personal data stored within a centralized server could make it susceptible to data breaches, fraud, data theft and more. As the world becomes technologically advanced, so do hackers and scammers.
 
Enter the decentralized alternative. With blockchain, there are solutions to these risks and challenges. As a distributed ledger technology, the blockchain has no single point of failure. Additionally, the data is immutable and all transactions recorded on the blockchain are open and transparent. Another key feature of blockchain technology is the protection of digital identity. Through cryptography and encryption, users’ true identities are secure, and digital avatars are anonymous.


Source: Forkast