The Bottom Line is that Freedom is Decentralization

Wherever in the world we may be, we are surrounded by a vast array of internet-connected devices, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. With endless innovation on gadgets, even those in the developing countries own at least one mobile phone that can be connected to the internet. The usage of the internet has been increasing as technology keeps innovating. But many do not realize that these technologies are centralized, including the internet. This means that they are controlled by companies, governments, or individuals.

A technology that is controlled by entities and individuals is a world without freedom. To have freedom, the internet, and all its technologies should be free, therefore, decentralized. Decentralized technology is run by a network of participants where no one has authority over the other. No one can control or shut it down because there are no third-party serving as intermediaries. This brings a lot of benefits and equal rights to everyone, without exception. Here are some of its benefits.

Eliminates trust issues

In almost everything in the current world that we all live in, we are required to trust governments and companies with our information and money. While it may be fine to have decisions like this on a case to case basis, we have also seen how this trust failed us in so many ways, including those that we don’t even realize. From a start-up company whom you trusted to backup all your photos, then got shut down, to those advertisements that follow you everywhere because you’ve entrusted your data to some social media companies. A decentralized network would not ask you for such data and information, therefore, eliminating any trust issues.

No single point of failure

Centralized websites often have single points of failure as they often have outages. For example, banks’ websites often go down for some maintenance or whatever for whatever reasons. This hampers your online banking transactions, even causing your bills to be overdue. When your work relies mostly on Gmail, and it goes down, your productivity goes down with it. If the network is decentralized, no one node can take down the whole network so, regardless if there are a lot of users using it at the same time, your applications continue running without any downtime.

An avenue for more developments

A decentralized network is a great way to develop more incredible tools, products, and services, as opposed to a centralized network with limited development opportunities. This doesn’t mean that companies and individuals who operate in a decentralized network will not have any opportunities for any return of investment. The more innovative tools and products are built, the more opportunities are there to lock in users, and therefore, there will be more opportunities to build businesses.

These are just a few of the benefits that decentralization holds. Reading between the lines, it offers equality which the internet is actually designed for. The bottom line is that the keyword that defines freedom is decentralization.