There is no way to sugar coat it: consumers are nervous about their privacy. And rightfully so. There is a trail of data bread crumbs you leave behind wherever you go, and people are watching and following along — some with good intentions, but not all.  The internet as we know it is controlled by centralized networks, but one company is helping change the playing field by taking away the power of those networks and offering it to the masses.

“You shouldn't have to be a security expert to know what applications you use in order to have the level of privacy that you prefer,” Dr. Waterhouse said. “We believe that things like a decentralized VPN are a step in the direction of decentralizing a lot of different kinds of messaging and communication platforms. There are definitely very layered challenges in what that means.”

Dr. Steven Waterhouse is the CEO of Orchid Labs, an open-source decentralized VPN system that is allowing users to shield themselves from internet lurkers following their every move. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Steven describes what this open-source system could look like, and he dives into the rising tide of privacy issues, why regulation has gone too far, and the benefits of an open-source system.

Main Takeaways

• Power to the Users: Over the last few years, a rising tide of privacy concerns has continued to swell amongst internet users. By decentralizing communication, and masking a person’s ability to be tracked, users can freely surf the web without being worried about a third party tracking them or selling their data. 
• What’s Mine Is Yours: As an open-source system, Orchid’s VPN code is made freely to be distributed around the world. This is important because the company believes that decentralized VPNs are a key component of creating a decentralized internet.
• Crypto-for-VPN? Since Orchid Labs allows its users to layer their VPN usage — which means they could be connected to multiple VPN sites at a time — the company uses a form of cryptocurrency as a central payment method, as opposed to using a credit card system. By using cryptocurrency instead of credit cards, users are able to free-send coins back and forth without a central authority figure and without a paper trail of data.

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