<span style="font-weight: 400">According to the Fair Data Society, we all work in the data world. Our personal and private data is our digital footprint. However, the platforms we use to interact with one another collect it in ways we cannot see. In the best-case scenario, it improves our user's experience. Unfortunately, however, there are circumstances in which third parties can monetize, breach, or weaponize our privacy against us. Everything started in the early 2000s when the user-generated web grew in popularity. Free social media networks, search engines, and different companies recognized a new revenue stream and began collecting, storing, and selling user data. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">The data market has expanded significantly today.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400">According to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185888/worldwide-global-datasphere-unique-replicated-data/">Statista</a>, there was creation, use, and sharing of 59 Zettabytes with the rest of the world in 2020</span><span style="font-weight: 400">. By estimation, this amount will exceed 180 Zettabytes by 2025. According to Prof. Sabina Leonelli, during a discussion about the future of data sovereignty in a profit-driven world: "Individual rights and group action are affected when many organizations control the sharing and use of information."</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Indeed, Google controls more than three-quarters of the global search market. In the same vein, Meta owns four social media platforms with more than 3.6 billion individual users.</span>

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/711x474/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/61795a7ca20dc51a9334a027/Security-shield-in-matrix/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Why All Metaverse Users Need To Reclaim Their Private Data In Web3" width="557" height="371" />
<h2><strong>Course for Data Sovereignty</strong></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">The Data Transfer Project came into existence in 2018. It was in response to the growing pressure and regulatory requirements felt by major tech companies. Therefore, this year, the Data Transfer Project came into existence. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Six contributors, including Google, Microsoft,</span><a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/metamask-warns-apple-users-over-potential-icloud-phishing-attacks"> <span style="font-weight: 400">Apple</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400">, Twitter, Facebook, and SmugMug, have had a commitment to facilitating data exchange between platforms using an open-source framework. However, it was only the beginning of users' access to their data.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">In recent years, the need for trust, transparency, security, and decentralization has formed across all aspects of our lives. This includes finance, organization management, and data storage. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">The proof lies in blockchain technology and solutions such as decentralized finance, autonomous decentralized organizations, and Web3. They give users complete control over their online lives and protect their fundamental right to data privacy. So, what are the specific advantages of data sovereignty and radical ownership? And how can they be executed?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Users achieve data sovereignty when they have complete control over their data. As there is no restriction of data to a single platform, they can determine what data is stored and for what purpose it will be used. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">The advocates of this concept are working to create a brand new digital environment that is fair, uses data to benefit society, and distributes its value following Web3 and Fair Data Principles with numerous decentralized tools.</span>
<h2><strong>Web 3.0: My keys, My Data</strong></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">The absence of centralized data storage is one of the primary characteristics of Web3 that distinguishes it from the Web as we know it. Decentralized storage offers the same reference point as blockchain but for large private data.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Peer-to-peer networks will be capable of exchanging and securing data through the use of protocols and a decentralized data layer,  while content-based addressing will ensure that the data has not been altered: When we download a portion of data from a specific address, we know that the data is accurate because the hash of the data matches the address.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">In addition, there can't be data sovereignty without data interoperability. Therefore, unlike data monopolies, in which there is a restriction of users to exclusive user interfaces, the development of web3 was with non-custodial solutions in mind. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Users can access the same set of private data across multiple platforms (also known as BYOD) and transfer it between various storage devices and applications using keys.</span>
<h2><strong>Registration Procedure Modification</strong></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">The registration procedure will also undergo modifications. For example, we use email addresses to create accounts and link accounts to our Google and Facebook profiles. In Web3, wallet addresses will replace email credentials. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Another good example is "</span><a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-4361"><span style="font-weight: 400">Sign in with Ethereum</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400">," which the Ethereum Foundation supports and will likely become a standard login feature. Even though all transactions on the blockchain are publicly viewable, you will have privacy protection if you log into the system with an anonymous wallet address.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Content creators will have access to new methods for monetizing their work during construction. For example, tokens, both fungible and non-fungible, will be able to calculate Web3 "likes" and "retweets." </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">They can reward high-quality content and share information while ensuring that the creator receives an equal share of royalties. Finally, decentralized governance is yet another method for overthrowing Big Tech's monopolistic power as far as data control is concerned. As transactions are verified through consensus, decentralized autonomous organizations can provide transparency and democracy in making decisions on the blockchain.</span>
<h2><strong>Why Should Users Reclaim Their Private Data?</strong></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">Digital sovereignty is the practice of treating people as individuals rather than cogs in the data economy. Summarily, digital sovereignty is achievable by developing human-centric applications that prioritize data interoperability. This is possible by encouraging the development of a new internet infrastructure that can support encryption, data security, and transparent and ethical business models. Basic digital literacy can also reduce the likelihood that users will compromise their privacy.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">As a final remark, It is essential to emphasize that this is a bigger collaborative effort than any person or organization. Therefore, it is also important that the entire Web3 community should cooperate. On this basis, we will begin to restore the privacy of individuals and build social trust in the digital economy.</span>
<h2><strong>How does Web 3.0 Ensure a Privacy-Driven Future for Users?</strong></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">The following are how Web3 will ensure a privacy-driven future for users.</span>
<h3><strong>Blockchain Technology</strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400">Blockchain is a decentralized innovation, meaning that nobody or no group has complete control over an environment. Instead, everyone can generally control their environment. Using the blockchain, users' data with records are under protection by algorithms, ensuring safety and transparency. </span>
<h3><strong>Blockchain Architecture</strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400">The exceptional blockchain architecture is an incentive for ensuring that all technicians, from those who maintain the records and run the company to those expanding on the blockchain, work straightforwardly and decently. If they fail, they may be disqualified by the blockchain or aggregate democratic principles.</span>
<h3><strong>Data Sharing</strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400">Users may give away their personal information, but they will know how it is used. For example, assuming there is proper blockchain implementation, users will be able to determine the time, date, and duration of data sharing. </span>
<h3><strong>Data Control</strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400">Users also can opt-out of sharing their information at any time. However, organizations should not deny users access if they are dissatisfied with how they use their data or do not wish to provide data to an organization.</span>

Metaverse Users Need To Reclaim Their Private Data In Web3 - Why?

Our personal and private data is our digital footprint. The platforms we use to interact with one another collect it in ways we cannot see.

Oluwademilade Afolabi is a freelance writer and editor passionate about blockchain technology and the health industry. He is a 6th year medical student, and has worked with various companies and blogs since the blockchain revolution began.

Metaverse Users Need To Reclaim Their Private Data In Web3 - Why?

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