Personal Data Vaults & The Data Driven Economy

The history of computing
started out centralized.

• Large mainframes provided computational power
  for an entire organization.
  • People brought punched cards to a control room,
    where they were processed by a machine.
• When networking came along,
  terminals interfaced with mainframes.
  • The server possessed magnitudes more
    computational power than the client.

Personal computing decentralized
computational power.

• Personal computers were able to perform
  enough calculations for simple software.
  • spreadsheets
  • word processing
  • …
• Up to the 2000s, only few of these
  were connected to the Internet.
  • Data and software were transferred using physical media.

Even when the Internet became popular,
data and CPU remained decentralized.

• Desktop software remained dominant.
  • Data remained on-device.
  • Processing remained on-device.
• The Web provided a way to:
  • retrieve information faster
  • retrieve information we did not have before

The Web strives to be universal
through independence of many factors.

• Anyone can use the Web, regardless of:

  hardware

  desktop

  phone

  tablet

  watch

  …

  software

  operating system

  browser

  app

  …

• Developers are free to innovate.
  • Build for the Web.
  • Standards provide interoperability.
• Unfortunately, this is not the default elsewhere.
  • App stores are a prominent counterexample.

The Web brings freedom of expression
to everyone across the world.

• Anyone can say anything about anything.
• We all have our own spaces,
  so we don’t have to agree.
• We can link to opinions of others
  to discuss about them.

The Web brings permissionless innovation
at a global scale.

• Anyone can build anything for any reason.
• The technologies are open.
• You don’t need anyone’s permission
  to join the Web and launch a new idea.
  • This contrast with app stores.

The software-as-a-service model brought
storage and processing to the cloud.

• Centralized software platforms reduced friction.
  • Sharing becomes easier by linking.
  • Real-time collaborative editing becomes possible.
  • Users always have the latest software.
• Data processing and storage are outsourced.
  • Once again, our devices act as terminals.
• Platforms leverage universality—and threaten it.
  • You only need a spec-compliant browser—and an account.

The pendulum of (de-)centralization
is driven by more than just technology.

• The technological gap between clients
  and servers is smaller than ever.
  • Servers resemble ordinary computers.
  • Even some of our portable devices are more powerful
    than our personal computers were a decade ago.
• Many cloud applications could still run on-device.
  • The UI in fact often does.

Ironically, permissionless innovation
even allows platforms that prevent it.

The Facebook founder has no intention of
allowing anyone to build anything on his platform
that does not have his express approval.

Having profited mightily from the Web’s openness,
he has kicked away the ladder that elevated him
to his current eminence.

John Naughton, The Guardian

Solid aims to restore choice
by separating data from apps.

• Typical platforms nowadays store data
  inseparably from an application.
• By separating data from apps,
  we create independent choices.
• All 6.5 million people in Flanders
  will receive a Solid personal data pod.

Every piece of data created by a person
or about them, is stored in a data pod.

Apps and services appear similarly,
but they blend data from many sources.

A person can grant apps and people access
to very specific parts of their data.

Separating app and storage competition
creates better offerings for all parties.

By abandoning data harvesting,
we restore permissionless innovation.

Solid is not an app or platform.
It is a way of building for the Web.

• Solid is an ecosystem.
  • Standards enable interoperability.
• Solid is a movement.
  • We shift how people think about data.
• Solid is a community.
  • Building Solid requires people,
    companies, governments, institutions.

Solid enables interoperable data vaults
through standardization.

• Solid builds on existing Web standards.
• The standards cover:
  • data pods
  • applications or services
  • identity
• Solid specifies the interactions
  between data, apps, and identities.

A Solid server acts as a data pod
that stores and guards your data.

• It is a regular Web server
  • …with support for access control.
  • …with support for Linked Data.
• Its interface is application-agnostic.
  • Build any application, like on the Web.
  • Application-specific logic resides in clients.
• A Solid pod is essentially a website with data.
  • Its data is compatible with any Solid app.

A data pod can contain any data
you create or need online.

• profile 👤
• media 🖼
• comments 🗣
• likes 👍
• … ✨

Solid clients are browser or native apps
that read from or write to your data pod.

• People give read and/or write permissions
  for specific pieces of data to:
  • apps
  • other people
  • automated agents
  • …
• Apps deliver an integrated experience.
  • Instead of displaying individual webpages or data items,
    apps interleave data from multiple sources.

Any app you can envision,
you can build with Solid.

• calendar 📅
• social feed 👥
• photo sharing 📸
• conference organization system 🎤
• … ✨

Several open-source implementations
of servers, apps, and libraries exist.

• server
  • Use a public instance or host your own.
• apps
  • data browser
  • contacts
  • photos
  • meeting organizer
  • …
• libraries
  • authentication
  • data processing
  • …

Solid servers separate apps from data
by implementing a set of specifications.

• Think of a data pod as a USB stick.
  • connector shape
  • electrical signals
  • file system format
  • …
• Ensure data can be accessed by Solid apps
  regardless of the server that stores it.

We've built the Community Solid Server
to grow with the community’s needs.

• It follows the Solid specifications.
  • anticipate envisaged spec evolutions
• It’s a helpful companion for app developers.
  • lightweight and easy to configure
• It supports extension and experimentation.
  • testing bed for the future of Solid

The Community Solid Server Association
will steward the server and its resources.

• Ensuring the sustainability of the server.
• Guarantee long-term maintenance
  and inspire the future of Solid.
• Join us to help determine that future!