Web3 and the future of data portability: Rethinking user experiences and incentives on the internet - Help Net Security

Data is transparent. That also means it’s public. While accounts are pseudonymous, users may take actions that accidentally leak their identities when they don’t intend to. Adding to the challenge, transactions are irreversible, which puts even more burden on the user to not make mistakes. In the Web3 world, users can’t call their credit card compa... See more

Rather than storing a memorized secret like a password, users can apply public key cryptography to sign up, access sites, and take sensitive actions by using private keys to deterministically prove ownership of a represented account on a shared ledger. It may sound like voodoo to the average person, but it is a bit like electricity. Flip a switch, ... See more

There’s nearly no end-user friction involved in porting your data from one service to another in Web3. We shouldn’t underestimate the impact of improved data portability – users’ aversion to friction influences most of our online actions today, so changing the friction involved in switching services or trying new ones.

While Web3 has the potential to reimagine how we use the internet, it also raises thorny issues around privacy, user experience, and how much control users truly want.