You’ve all seen the news rounds the last couple of weeks with the flood of info about the huge amounts of data that Cambridge Analytica had been caught red-handed draining from Facebook. Over 50 million profiles were successfully extracted and Facebook didn’t notice (or, more likely, didn’t want to notice) a thing until the whole thing was outed in the press by a whistleblower.
What you might’ve missed in all this flurry was how exactly Cambridge Analytics managed to vacuum up all that information. Rather than a hack, or anything like that, they simply made use of an app which a lot of users installed on their phone. The app connected to people’s Facebook profiles and, in exchange for a little bit of snooping around your profile, it promised to give you some insights into your own personality, likes and dislikes. A true fair-ground crystal ball fortune teller with some feel-good insights. Turns out that just like some of the fairgrounds fortune-tellers, it didn’t just snoop around your own profile, it went in and ransacked the thing wholesale and not only for data on you, but your wife or husband, parents, kids, parents, friends, and anyone else you might’ve friended on Facebook. It then took all this treasure trove of information about you, and anyone you ever said ‘hi’ to, and sent it over to the unsavoury characters at Cambridge Analytica All that so that the app could spit out a textbox saying you’ve “a contemplative personality type”.
Sounds like a pretty shabby deal, doesn’t it?
How would you feel about forking over more info, in fact, you know what, ALL of your online info. I’m talking everything you ever did, everything that you did on Tinder just before you guiltilty deleted before getting home from work, the porn you’re watching, all the inside jokes you’ve got going on with your best friends, or the dirty chat you’ve got going on with your wife. Maybe some pics you’d never like to see the light of day? Not to mention all of your bank information, emails, as well as anything else that’s ever travelled wavelengths from your Wi-Fi router or your cellphone tower to your laptop or smartphone. Scary thought. Now try to imagine paying for the privilege of having your information sold on, ‘monetized’ and occasionally turned over to law enforcement for robbing Scott Ridley, Taylor Swift and the likes of 0.001¢ in royalties. Shouldn’t be too hard, since you’re already forking over $50–150 a month for the experience. Yes, I’m talking about your Internet Service Provider. The Comcasts, AT&Ts, Time Warner Cables, Verizons, T-Mobiles and VirginMedias of the world — they’ve got you right the way they like it — bent over.
Makes the whole Facebook leak sound pretty nice now, doesn’t it? So what is there to do?
You might’ve heard of Tor, the Mozilla-based browser pack that’s supposed to help democracy activists living in oppressive regimes circumvent internet blocks and interception of their online activity. Trouble with that sort of stuff is that you’re not a pro-democracy protester living in China, and the network wasn’t built to handle your habit of streaming 1080p60fps videos while torrenting BluRay the latest season of GoT and Orange is the New Black. The whole thing is ridiculous and it makes you wish you were on dial-up again.
In comes SkyWire. This is a new internet. It’s founded and run by some of the same luminaries who were involved in the early development of crypto, like Synth (early Bitcoin developer), Houwu Chen (Ethereum co-founder). SkyWire is an internet that sits on top of your internet connection and on which your ISP cannot snoop in. It uses state-of-the-art encryption protocols such as Source Routing Link Layer Encryption which is virtually unbreakable but also much, much faster than old-school VPN networks.
Because SkyWire sits on top of your existing internet connection, there is no equipment, no messy wires to deal with and virtually no set-up, apart from installing the SkyWire software.
What’s even better is that the whole SkyWire internet is completely peer-to-peer and works with all the existing internet apps you might be using.
For example, currently, if you want to watch a video on Popcorn Time, your ISP will record that request and will either fetch the video from half-way across the world from wherever the server sits or it will pull it off a huge Content Distribution Network datacenter in the middle of rural Alabama and also leave a record of your activity in all these places. With SkyWire, if you want to watch the latest episode of whatever, the network will just find the nearest copy from someone else on the SkyWire network (might be the downstairs neighbour or someone in the same town) and anonymously serve that copy to you. No ISP, no Content Delivery Network, no Popcorn Time server. No man in the middle, no buffer and no privacy breach. Revolutionary.
How much is this going to cost?
Nothing. No, really — not a penny, dime, cent, eurocent, ruble or however you want to try to spin this. The project is funded by SkyCoin, which is something I’ll write in more depth in another article. Briefly, however, SkyCoin is Bitcoin without all the issues. Unlike Bitcoin, SkyCoin uses an improved algorithm called Obelisk which gives it in-built protection against Proof-of-Work/Stake attacks and the related transaction malleability issues that Bitcoin is vulnerable to. Simply put, when you use SkyWire, you spend SkyCoin (such as when you get that video from your downstairs neighbour, Dan), and when you help others use SkyWire (your computer giving Dan a copy of an ebook or simply serving a website he is trying to access), you earn SkyCoin. In essence, everyone is both a client and a server — a true mesh network. There is no mining, so none of those issues and the associated inflation, but if you want to earn more SkyCoin, you can always run a node (basically, a dedicated server in the network) and earn more SkyCoin that way. If you sign up for a node early, you also get a bonus.
However, while SkyWire uses SkyCoin to enable the invisible accounting behind the network, the coin and the network are independent and completely separate. SkyCoin is usable for any and all transactions and, unlike like Bitcoin is actually tied to, but can survive with, something that has real-world value and application.
Go ahead, #DeleteFacebook and #GoSkyWire
Thanks for the great post. It's great to know that there is an answer to this information problem that the recent Facebook scandal has brought to light. I knew the answer would involve blockchain but I hadn't heard of Skycoin and Skywire yet. Thank you for informing us all.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the post, many people haven't heard about skywire yet so you can always check out more on their subreddit our their telegram group where they are very responsive. I am considering writing a future article on this since it received good responses.
I thought i deleted my facebook account. But three days ago i got a text message saying someone accepted my request prior to deleting. So i clicked on it and bam im in my account. Im thinking i went thru hell deleting, or at least i thought i was and come to find out its still active. Know one is using it or anything but it is kinda Kreepy to me. I cannot take a company serious that you cant call.
Hmm, that's so strange, well let's hope for an open an decentralized internet then.
I do believe mark z will go to jail. He is using dopamine to brainwash the world
@originalworks
Fascinating stuff. How did you hear about SkyWire in the first place?
I started researching different coins last year and I initially found out about Substratum, afterwards I found out about Skycoin which I now consider to be a much better and complete project. Here's the official info on Skywire https://www.skycoin.net/blog/statement/skycoin-vs-skywire/ but you can find plenty of articles about it. I'm a big fan of net neutrality so I'm really hoping the devs pull it off.
Here's hoping they do!
Yeah, with the recent pessimism around the world in general and crypto in particular some good news would be really welcomed.
Are you also invested in skycoin or have a sky miner, or were you just curious?
Gave you a follow, by the way. You seem like you have your head reasonably attached to your shoulders.
Thanks, same from me, I'll follow your posts.
More curious than anything. I hadn't heard of it, so I figured I'd ask. I've seen so many ICOs for "services" that claim to be the next big thing that I've developed a healthy skepticism in recent months.
Hello I like your post I just gave you an upvote Make me a visit on my blog and if you like something of me an upvote too.@celioeguga
Thanks, I'll check out your posts
This post has received a 0.47% upvote from
thanks to: @chozai.
For more information, click here!!!!
Try the new Minnowhelper Bots for more information here
Help support @minnowhelper and the bot tracker by voting for @yabapmatt for Steem witness! To vote, click the button below or go to https://steemit.com/~witnesses and find @yabapmatt in the list and click the upvote icon. Thank you.
Voting for @yabapmatt
Resteemed by @resteembot! Good Luck!
Curious? Read @resteembot's introduction post
Check out the great posts I already resteemed.
ResteemBot's Maker is Looking for Work
You got a 1.79% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @chozai!
Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
You got a 5.40% upvote from @adriatik courtesy of @chozai!
You got a 1.22% upvote from @allaz courtesy of @chozai!
Thanks for using Bid Voting Bot @allaz service and Steem Upvote Bot Tracker
I want to introduce you to my new friend @monsterbit in order to give additional thanks!
Do you know who is @monsterbit is? My friend, you can miss a lot. I highly recommend checking him with introduceyourself. He is going to hold interesting contests with cash prizes and promises to tell a lot of interesting stories!
This post has received a 5.75% upvote from @msp-bidbot thanks to: @chozai. Delegate SP to this public bot and get paid daily: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP Don't delegate so much that you have less than 50SP left on your account.
You got a 3.98% upvote from @minnowvotes courtesy of @chozai!
This post has received a $24.39 % upvote from @siditech thanks to: @chozai.
Here's a banana!
Resteemed to over 15900 followers and 100% upvoted. Thank you for using my service!
Send 0.200 Steem or 0.200 Steem Dollars and the URL in the memo to use the bot.
Read here how the bot from Berlin works.
We are happy to be part of the APPICS bounty program.
APPICS is a new social community based on Steem.
The presale was sold in 26 minutes. The ICO will start soon.
Read here more: https://steemit.com/steemit/@resteem.bot/what-is-appics
@resteem.bot
waoo... very nice photo Hi bro how are you? i follow and upvote to your post ,, so kindly follow me back and upvote at given link ,, then i will upvote to your thanks.
Hello Nasir, sure thing, I followed you and will check your articles.
thanks bro
This post has received a 25.00% upvote from @aksdwi thanks to: @chozai.
Nice post my friend
Thanks, appreciated!
You got a 66.67% upvote and resteem from @ebargains courtesy of @chozai. Thank you for using the @ebargains UPVOTE and RESTEEM bot.
If you are looking to earn a passive no hassle return on your Steem Power, delegate your SP to @ebargains by clicking on one of the ready to delegate links:
50SP | 100SP | 250SP | 500SP | 1000SP | 5000SP | Custom Amount
You will earn 80% of the voting bot's earnings based on your delegated SP's prorated share of the bot's SP pool at the end of EACH voting round! That is up to 38.5% APR! You can also undelegate at anytime.
Interesting read, Thank you.
ReSteemed.
@envi.sage
Thank you, I hope to write some new interesting articles soon.
Interesting read. So how does skywire make money?
Thanks for checking the article!
When you own a certain amount of skycoin you get a direct percentage of coin hours in time, you can use those coin hours to make in dapp purchases, marketing, smart contracts. You can compare skycoin and coin hours with Neo and gas.
I’ll share some links where you can find out more about the economy of the skywire and skycoin:
https://medium.com/skycoin/skycoin-coin-hours-f537fa7ae614
Excelente post @chozai daré seguimiento a este articulo para ver el progreso de Skywire y Skycoin saludos. sigueme.. hago lo mismo..
Gracias!
Wonderful post ..thanks for sharing...Best of luck friend ✫
this is the best bot for steembottracker clik here https://steemit.com/bots/@hassanbenali/the-best-bot-for-service-how-to-create-steem-bot-tracker
Transfer 0.200 SBD or 0.250 steem to @mrbean1 and put the link of your post in the public memo you get 5 good UPVOT and resteem by @mrbean1 +followers
Please convey this message to others. SMARTSTEEM has some technical problem. It many times does not vote and does not return your money. But the worst part of the story is that if you ask for return of your money, an account known as clvr will start attacking you. Whenever you use any bot and get some vote, this clvr will downvote you and take out a big portion from that. clvr will trace whenever you get some return from any bot and use appropriate voting weight of downvote so that most portion of your return is wiped out. Then you have no other option than to abandon that account and start a new steemit account. But, when you do that, be very careful that you should not do any type of transaction with the new account. clvr is clever enough to find that it is your new account and will start attacking that account too. Anyway, your infected accounts can be safely used to hold your SP and upvote to earn curation rewards.
The best option is that, those people who lose the transferred money to SMARTSTEEM and does not get it returned, should not ask them and should not complain so that at least your account will be safe from the attack of clvr. Just forget that money. I have lost my 3 accounts, but my other accounts are safe because I take care to avoid any type of transaction or up-voting or similarity of posts between the affected and not-affected accounts.