It’s a bit ironic that Microsoft and PWC, those selfless pioneers of the open web, support the #RebootingWebOfTrust Design workshop in Paris tomorrow and you can pay up to 750 Euros without submissions, albeit, the topic is relevant and here’s an overview of submitted papers.
The Web of Trust. It’s a buzzword for a new model of decentralized identity. However, it’s also a phrase that dates back almost twenty-five years and has been heavily overloaded with meaning during that time. The classic definition of Web of Trust derives from PGP, but the top Google results refer to a website reputation rating system created by a Finnish internet company. Meanwhile, some use it as a big tent that includes identity authentication and verfication, certificate validation, and reputation assesment, while the vibrant blockchain community is also drawing new attention to the classic concept.
Thanks to our personalized, digital filter bubbles, the need to build trust outside of walled gardens akin to iTunes or Facebook is pertinent in meat space as well. Whether it’s text walking lanes, lack of empathy or fake perfectification on social channels, trust needs some serious rebooting on a couple of fronts. I have reboot hope, even for good old journalism; the NYT has seen digital subscribers soar since the election and the stock is worth a peek.
