Web3's data transformation

Data is power. The collection of data traces back millennia to the first writing instruments. Record keeping tools were primitive — a stone, bone, or reed, and functional — tabulating supplies, crops, or transactions. In the centuries since, data collection has undergone exponential evolution from crude manual methods to innovative digital techniques, particularly over the last 40 years. The advent of the internet has allowed for information to be instantaneously transmitted globally. Today, our data is owned and exploited by siloed, monolithic organizations to exert control.

Web1: “The Static Iteration” or Read Era

The internet didn’t start out this way. Web1 existed from the early 1990s to the early 2000s. Built with open-source code and a permissionless network, it enabled users to access stored information on static websites and read the content. Data collection was limited. Sensitive personal information largely remained offline. Interconnectivity was prized.

Web2: “The Social Web” or Read Write Era

Web2 has existed from the early 2000s through the 2020s, enabling users to access and interact with websites, mobile apps, and social media networks. As they do, each individual paints a uniquely detailed, digital data portrait of themselves, while adding to User Generated Content (UGC) that informs larger demographic patterns. UGC from over 5 billion people online is held in centralized, closed-off systems, owned entirely by corporations.

Rather than handling users' information privately or even with care, tech behemoths have done the polar opposite. Entities like Facebook, Google, and Amazon are driven by the mass-scale collection and surveillance of data. Highly nuanced personal information about each user is then monetized by advertisers, in order to target people with specific characteristics and behaviors. So, what is the alternative? Cover yourself in aluminum foil, decamp to a remote cave, and communicate solely via carrier pigeon? Not quite.

Web3: “The Decentralized Web” or Read Write Own Era

Web3 began to develop in the 2010s, and enables a much needed paradigm shift, one where data privacy and data ownership are paramount. By design, its technology processes information differently. Data is stored on a decentralized, distributed ledger via open-source, immutable, cryptographic code—reducing the risk of data abuse and attack. Within a ledger, data is compiled into blocks that are linked together in chronological order, forming a chain. This is why the technology is called blockchain. No single entity can gain monopolistic control. Rather than relying on a centralized server or platform, it is a transparent, peer-to-peer network. This allows users to maintain ownership of their data, because there is no third-party owning user data for surveillance or monetization purposes.

MetaMask: Championing Data Protection in Web3

To connect with blockchains, users must create a wallet address, consisting of an identifying alphanumeric string. This address is the only information needed to access permissionless, decentralized apps (dapps), allowing users to operate pseudo-anonymously if they wish to do so. With their wallet address, users can interact with the decentralized web. Being the gateway to web3 is a position of great responsibility. MetaMask, the world’s leading self-custodial crypto wallet operating on the Ethereum blockchain, is committed to data protection, user consent, and individual control. Let’s dive into how MetaMask achieves this in more detail.

Key Features of MetaMask’s Commitment to Data Privacy

Whether you are a crypto newbie or a seasoned degen, MetaMask ensures you have full control over your self-custodial wallet. Our Privacy Best Practices guide gives you an overview of important facets to keep in mind while navigating Web3. MetaMask supports users to make their own decisions regarding privacy as they see fit, via the integration of: customizable settings for privacy, and a tailored user experience; minimization of data sharing, with local device storage; encryption for secure transactions; transparency of processes and data collection methods.

MetaMask’s Privacy Preserving Features can be adjusted as desired and include:

● Basic Settings such as gas estimates, token details, and malicious site warnings, can be tailored to user preferences

● RPC configuration can be changed from default to personal RPC endpoints

● MetaMask Security Alerts simulating transactions and alerts users before interacting with potentially malicious dapps and smart contracts, can be disabled or enabled

● Phishing Detection alerting users if a site is identified as potentially malicious using a publicly curated list of sites, can be enabled or disabled

● Network Detail Checks performing a security check by comparing the name, symbol, RPC URL, and other network details with those on a publicly maintained list when a network is manually added, can be enabled or disabled

● MetaMetrics analytics designed to help improve MetaMask's user experience with non-sensitive product data, can be disabled or enabled

● Customizable Smart Transactions improving and optimizing transactions, can be disabled or enabled

● Auto-Detect Tokens utilizing a carefully curated list of data sources to identity tokens, can be disabled or enabled

● NFT Media Display requiring retrieval of NFT file images form third-party services, can be disabled or enabled

● Proposed Nicknames elevating your wallet UX with human-readable moniker suggestions, can be disabled or enabled

Empowering MetaMask Users With More Privacy and Consent

MetaMask is committed to a consent-based approach to privacy. Our privacy notice update provides increased transparency on our data processing activities, and we:

● Do not collect your private keys.

● Do not sell your personal information.

● Do not collect or retain personal information unless necessary to provide you with services and user experience.

● Do not collect financial payment or banking information. However, when you use on-ramp or off-ramp features these services may necessitate you submitting this information to third-party providers.

Web3 is transforming data privacy and data ownership. With MetaMask, you have authority over your digital identity, and the way your information is shared. Data is power, and MetaMask puts that power back into the hands of the people.

Head over to MetaMask Portfolio now to configure your privacy settings, and take control of your digital identity.