Peer-to-peer connections and decentralised technologies

Safer Internet Day is a privileged moment to raise awareness about online safety and take action to create a better Internet for all. In line with the SID 2018 theme of "Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you", COFACE Families Europe has been reflecting on peer-to-peer connections and decentralised technologies.

Date 2018-02-06 Author COFACE Families Europe
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COFACE Families Europe is currently examining the pros and cons of decentralised technologies to help internet users take back control of their data, and the benefits they can provide in terms of inclusion, facilitated access to knowledge, to online presence, and the protection of key digital rights like anonymity, or combating censorship. As such, COFACE hosted a training seminar "Analog families in a Digital World" on 1 February 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Reflections from the day included:

1. Examining alternatives to centralised online service providers
Some of the examples included: Cloudron which allows people to host their own website and run a server directly from home; Mastodon and Diaspora, both of which are decentralised alternatives to Twitter and Facebook; Open Bazaar which is a decentralised market place to sell goods directly to other people, in replacement of Amazon; Wikipedia, although it is hosted in a centralised manner (Wikimedia data centres), allows for decentralised participation and contribution from users from all over the globe.

2. Learning about Blockchain technology and its applications
Some of the examples included: Musicoin: an innovative way to compensate musicians for their work, without the need for record labels; Golem: a way to share your computer's computing power to people that might need it; Sia: a system that allows anyone to rent unused space on their hard drives; Ethereum: a project which allows for the execution of "smart contracts" in a decentralised way.

3. Reflecting on the societal implications such technologies will bring in the future
The trade-offs between more control and direct liability for one's actions. The impossibility for censorship which may be positive (in the case of political persecution in certain countries) or negative (the spread of child abuse material). The transfer of power back to the people and the possibility of direct democracy and direct action by citizens.

Read more about the training session on the COFACE Families Europe website.

See also the COFACE Families Europe Safer Internet Day Supporter profile page.

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