Your right to your privacy is your personal sovereignty.
Blockchain technology allows us a variety of uses that never cease to amaze me. More and more applications give options for personal sovereignty, understanding this as the autonomy of each individual to be able to exercise the right to freedom.
The crypto space that has gained adoption today was born with Bitcoin in 2009, and then with the diversity of developments that have emerged since then. However, its origins go back much earlier, to the 1990s, with a group of programmers and cryptographers who sought to protect their privacy rights through the use of encrypted communications.
Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet is a book written in 2012 by the hacker Julian Assange, based on his dialogues with cyberactivists and cypherpunks Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Müller-Maguhn and Jérémie Zimmermann.
The Cypherpunk philosophy is usually misunderstood by most people, who believe that they are dealing with criminals, or terrorists of the system. Such a discourse has been imposed by the ruling elite in order to control individuals.
At their core, Cypherpunks seek to create a decentralized social system, with no need for mutual trust to interact, no need for permissions regulated by a central authority to participate, and respecting privacy, above all else.
You can read a great twitter thread by GalileoGadalei.
To learn more about its essence, you can read the Cypherpunk Manifesto here, y The Cyphernomicon here.
To learn from history, we can take as an example the failure of free software, open source, which tried to be a cheap copy of its closed source competitors, instead of sticking to its principles and reason for being, and charting its own path. . The crypto industry is at a similar juncture.
We must realize that it is not about seeking mass adoption, or gaining acceptance of the system, but about being the alternative, about creating a system that offers freedom from totalitarianism and the centralization of power.
If that sounds unrealistic or incredulous, think of Ada Lovelace (Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace), who was the first person to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculus, and to have published what is recognized today. , as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine, which is why she is considered the first computer programmer, in the mid-19th century.
So how can personal sovereignty be gained in our daily lives, in an environment so controlled by governments and bureaucrats on duty?
Path to Personal Sovereignty
You may have asked yourself, I have too, Why on earth use an anonymous network if you are going to be prosecuted and punished by the law?
The answer is that, for certain use cases, it is very useful. Let’s see.
The Cypherpunk philosophy is often misunderstood, because it confuses using tools to protect privacy, not provided by the government, with their use for criminal acts. They view cypherpunks as outsiders who live outside the traditional system with the intent to commit crime. I do not blame them, that is the message that the regulators spread over and over again, in the media related to centralized power, because they seek the dependence of the masses to exercise their “care”, and this means that they do not want to lose control and the mass surveillance (KYC / AML rules).
You are being watched. Private and government sponsored organizations are monitoring and recording your online activities.
Cryptography is a big part of the equation for your personal sovereignty, but without privacy you can’t be completely secure.
A blockchain like Cardano will surely succeed, due to its good design, because its operations are traceable, its ledger is transparent, and also because the developer company, IOHK, is friendly with regulators, so institutional investors will be able to participate.
You can use Cardano, or other similar blockchains for certain uses, but you could also use other networks when you need strict privacy (or even anonymity), remember that Cardano has its traceable ledger, it is a pseudonymous blockchain.
Choosing between different options, depending on your own needs and the characteristics that a network provides, is also Decentralization, in this case ‘personal’. Maximalists, abstain.
Privacy is identity reserve. Anonymity is the absence of identity.
Use Cases
Some time ago I got to know Session Messenger, a messaging application like WhatsApp or Telegram but that works in a federated network, like Tor. My article: Session Messenger. Revision.
I am currently studying Dark.Fi, a blockchain that at the time of writing this article is on Testnet, and which, among other functions, will have atomic swaps, and bridges to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, and Solana, according to its roadmap, allowing those coins to be bought freely anonymous.
In Privacy Tools you can find many privacy software resources and encrypted applications.
Also in Awesome Privacy, there is a list of free, open source and privacy-respecting services as alternatives to centralized services.
Final Words
The advances in technology are remarkable, and they plot a growth curve with exponential acceleration.
The field of artificial intelligence can bring great prosperity, and application for the comfort and improvement of people’s quality of life. But like a sword it is double-edged, and can be used against you by central authorities, or by malicious actors, to control your life, harm you, or rob you.
The blockchain without privacy or decentralization will be the most powerful and dangerous instrument of the central elites, for the control and mass surveillance of the population.
If we did not come to change the traditional system of control, then what we are building is a more sophisticated tool, so that this central power can use it against us. It’s privacy or nothing.
Only you can take care of your privacy. It is your responsibility, do not delegate it.
Always DYOR.
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Privacy Is Your Individual Sovereignty was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.