Decentralized Storage: The Path to Ultimate Data Privacy and Ownership

Data ownership and privacy have become increasingly relevant as we navigate the digital age. The convenience and ubiquity of centralized storage providers such as OneDrive, GDrive and Dropbox have made them the default choice for many users. However, these centralized services come with inherent risks and compromises that the development of blockchain technology can help overcome.

Centralized storage providers have simplified the user experience by offering user-friendly applications and APIs. But this convenience comes at the cost of giving up control over our data. When users sign up for these services, a closer look at the terms and conditions shows that they often include data access and usage restrictions. Moreover, it is different from the total privacy that users think it is, with the storage provider often having the rights to specific data for marketing and advertising purposes.

The decline of centralized storage has been felt in recent years with cases like the 2018 Google+ bug. In October 2018, Google revealed that a flaw in its system had exposed the private information of over 500,000 accounts for over three years. In the process of shutting down servers, an update in November saw an additional 52.5 million users affected, with non-public profile data exposed to malicious actors. December 2020 saw another breach of the Google Cloud service, leading to the theft of sensitive information from vaccine manufacturer Pfizer.

Not your keys, not your data

Centralized storage providers often market themselves as highly secure and private. They do this by using what is known as encryption at rest, which means that the data is fully encrypted when it is on the provider’s disk. If an outside party were to gain access to the disk, the data would be completely encrypted, useless to them without the encryption keys.

But what most users need to realize is that the storage provider is the one who has access to the encryption keys for our data, so they can access the data on the drives freely. This reality raises concerns about the actual ownership of our data and the potential for abuse by the very companies that promise to protect it. It also begs the question, if you don’t have the keys to your data, do you really own it anymore?

You can visualize the data flow in a centralized scenario like this:

1. You log in to the storage provider’s service.
2. The storage provider gets access to the encryption key of your data.
3. Your data is decrypted using the storage provider’s key.
4. The data is sent to you.

Although this process ensures that data is protected from external attackers, it does not mean that it is protected from the centralized provider.

Understand decentralized data storage solutions

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) provide a solid alternative to the centralized form of data storage, prioritizing privacy and data sovereignty. These networks follow protocols similar to the centralized method, with the critical difference being who holds the encryption keys to your data.

In networks like UltronGlow, the data is fully encrypted on the storage provider’s disk, but the encryption key used for this process is associated with the user’s unique crypto wallet. This means that your data is fully encrypted, but no one but you has access to the encryption keys, ensuring true data privacy and sovereignty.

You can visualize the data flow in a decentralized scenario like this:

1. You log into the storage provider’s sealed storage using your unique crypto wallet.
2. The encryption key in the wallet is used to decrypt the data.
3. The data is sent back to you.

It is important to note that the transmission of data over the Internet is secure in both centralized and decentralized scenarios, as the data is sent fully encrypted using TLS security (the “ene” in “https”).

True data sovereignty is not far away

In a time where data breaches and privacy concerns are increasingly common, a transition towards decentralized storage solutions seems necessary. Conversations about data ownership and control all lead to the same conclusion; the need for reliable decentralized storage that does not impose data rights on individuals. With the global data market valued at over $968 million, it is important to move industry standards towards increased security and privacy.

A move towards decentralization opens up a significant opportunity for individual users; revenue generation. Data sovereignty will allow users to monetize data and available storage space. Contributing to network storage will allow users to earn passive income solely by allowing other users to store data on their drives. This can be an alarming concept for users at first. But the realization that only you can access your data on the network using your key, regardless of which node it’s stored on, should go a long way in overcoming this fear.

Decentralization also has important implications for businesses and organisations. For example, companies can reduce the risk associated with data breaches and protect customer information more effectively, giving customers greater trust in the long term. Organizations can also contribute to network storage on a larger scale, which opens up new economic opportunities.

Given the many benefits that come with decentralized storage networks like UltronGlow, and the rapid development of blockchain technology, now is the right time to start rethinking our reliance on centralized storage providers. Steps towards a more secure and privacy-centric future are essential to the longevity of data sovereignty. By embracing these solutions, we can work together to redefine how we interact with data for a better future.