
Own your identity (2011) - Tomte
http://www.marco.org/2011/07/11/own-your-identity
======
aphextron
This always reminds me of an idea that I wish were implemented.

I want to be able to pay a single lump sum to have a "digital safe deposit" of
sorts. A physically secured file server with guaranteed data integrity over
the length of my life that is encrypted in a way which guarantees I am the
only person that ever has direct access. Instead of releasing all of your
photos, videos, messaging, etc. to random third party companies that will come
and go, you could build a safe repository of your entire life's data output.
You could then allow API access to this data to any service you wished, under
as strict of terms as you wish. These services would compete on the basis of
security and customer service, rather than advertising eyeballs.

We sort of have this model with things like Facebook, but the incentives are
corrupt because Facebook makes money by spreading your data, rather than
making money by protecting your data. It's going to take a rethink of the
entire system. It almost seems like there's a need for a government service to
handle this.

~~~
KeatonDunsford
_" In an Urbit world, your data is no longer trapped in a jumble of
proprietary servers. Your urbit is a permanent, versioned, typed archive the
size of your digital life."_

[https://urbit.org/posts/overview/](https://urbit.org/posts/overview/)

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jwr
This is very important and we don't stress it enough. Sure, it's easier to
just type that stuff into facebook/medium/google+/whatever, but then it
disappears into that black hole (Facebook is especially egregious in that
regard) and you don't own it anymore. Others own it.

The Web was designed to be decentralized, and yet out of laziness we are
contributing to it becoming a collection of several huge data silos.

------
kmfrk
I got my own personal e-mail, after I saw stories about Google randomly
shutting down people's Google accounts after weird YouTube disputes.

This way, I can just keep directing e-mails to another address.

Same goes for websites; I can just link to mywebsite.com/cv or whatever rather
than other service that may erect registration walls or go down.

Odds are my website links will work for longer than theirs.

~~~
randunel
Do you really own your domain name? That virtual record kept by an american
company?

~~~
kmfrk
That's why we use DNSSEC. :)

Again, I deal in relatives, not absolutes, so I'm content with a solution
that's comparably better than completely delegating to third parties.

~~~
randunel
My point here is that both the linked article and your comment propose an
ICANN-exclusive solution as the alternative to a Google-exclusive solution.

What makes one solution "comparably better" than the other? Is it the fact
that ICANN is legally a non profit org, compared to Google?

~~~
detaro
At least the major TLDs have a track record that you can own a domain name for
decades and swap out all the lower-level service providers (registrar, DNS,
actual hosting). Those also have an interest in doing a good job since a) I
pay them and b) I can swap them out if they don't. Random social media sites
don't have that track record, and are less flexible.

Some platforms have been quite good at longevity as well, but it is unlikely
they are going to beat the domain registration system (on which they also
depend), and you don't have the option of just moving your content somewhere
else and keep the URLs/reference alive. Yes, domains are not 100% stable
either (they can be lost to legal action, or fraud/criminal activity), but at
least the same level of risk exist for content on other services.

There are interesting attempts at alternatives, but they don't have the reach
yet.

------
joshbaptiste
The only thing I can think of when paying for your own domain name and/or
email service is what happens when you eventually die? Corporations can
outlive human beings hence keeping our content online for the foreseeable
future.

~~~
mindslight
> _Corporations can outlive human beings hence keeping our content online for
> the foreseeable future._

This is also a bug. Especially with third-party corporations that have their
own motives, and are prone to treat estates differently than they did the
person.

If one wants content to be kept online after their passing, then this needs to
be setup ahead of time through an explicit arrangement with the host, not just
terms in a will that an executor will be powerless to carry out.

