_____ _ _ _____ ____ ___ ____ _____ __ _______ ____ _ _ _______ ___ _ ____
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| | | _ | |___ | __/| |_| |___) || |_____\ V V / | |___| |_) | | |\ | |___ / \| |_| |___) |
|_| |_| |_|_____| |_| \___/|____/ |_| \_/\_/ |_____|____/ |_| \_|_____/_/\_\\___/|____/
We envision a Post-Web of interoperable and collaborative ecosystems that prioritize the autonomy and privacy of users.
The Post-Web Nexus is an emerging ecosystem agnostic, research-oriented initiative for a future of internet connectivity that prioritizes local-first, peer-to-peer, private, resilient, and interoperable networks. This endeavor will take the form of a decentralized systems engineering experiment, drawing upon open knowledge and community-driven research as the core of its sensemaking process. To guide this research and provide a framework for analyzing projects and protocols, we have identified six principles:
THE SIX PRINCIPLES OF THE POST-WEB
- Privacy & Security: Privacy is upheld by minimizing unwanted exposure of data and metadata for individuals and organizations, ensuring end-to-end security. There are fine-grained information and data disclosure capabilities, with the ability to control what, where, when, and to whom information is disclosed. Financial transactions are private by default. Remote services handle only encrypted content without access to sensitive details, such as user location.
- Local-First: Protocols and applications implement local-first data access, when feasible, enabling offline and asynchronous information access, especially for essential services such as communications and knowledge networks. Users can search and discover information on their devices, within their communities and groups, as well as globally via privacy-preserving protocols that are connected from the bottom up and interoperable.
- Sovereign Identities: Both individuals and organizations can exercise full control over their identities and associated data, with standards in place to facilitate interoperability and portability across various identity systems. Context-dependent pseudonymous cryptographic systems are employed to establish privacy-preserving relationships without relying on biometric data or other personally identifiable information.
- Organizational Rights Portability: Organizations are recognized as distinct entities that use interoperable permission models to encode their structures and roles, enabling portable access rights across the various applications they employ. This emphasizes organizational agency, where interconnected digital ecosystems are fostered, enabling organizations to adapt, self-regulate, and seamlessly interact within a network ecology.
- Resilience: Protocols are resilient and scalable, capable of adapting to growing user bases and network demands, ensuring consistent performance. Adaptive synchronization protocols with built-in fault tolerance and recovery mechanisms ensure connectivity even in the face of attacks and network disruptions. Additionally, protocols are designed to use resources efficiently, minimizing overhead and maximizing throughput.
- Pluralistic Interoperability: A diverse ecosystem of interoperable protocols, applications, and tools, developed by various independent teams, is essential. There is no single universal programming language or software stack, so interoperability is achieved through common protocols, data formats, and transport layers to facilitate the use of diverse technologies. Open source licenses and community-driven funding and decision-making processes, which distribute power across diverse stakeholders and jurisdictions, are expected for the protocol commons, thereby enhancing the system's resilience and adaptability to evolving needs and priorities.