Blockchain Technology can Lead Individuals to Freedom, but Could It Also be Harnessed by Governments Wishing to Further Their Own Interests?

Blockchain technology have contain advantages for nearly all parts of individual's lives, but could this technology be used against us if we aren't careful?

Like nearly all major technology breakthroughs blockchain technology has the potential to provide vast advantages to individuals everywhere, but that's assuming that innovators continue to push blockchain technology with the mission of providing an improved system of whatever aspect that system is attempting to accomplish. Many individuals who are at the very forefront of the development and implementation of blockchain technologies have the goal and desire to improve the service provided to their users,  and are typically much more socially conscience compared to traditional entrepreneurs. Although there are a vast amount of different blockchain projects currently in existence, only a handful have had success so far. The technology is too new, confusing, and scary for many individuals in society, but as time goes on the adoption is likely to follow suit. Has anyone else considered what the consequences would be if the government was able to harness this technology for more malicious reasons? The transparency, immutable nature, and validity of transactions are some of the biggest advantages of implementing blockchain systems, but these aspects of the blockchain could also give the government new tools for its digital surveillance operations. 

Let's take a look at how the internet itself progressed. 

At the very beginning of the internet, many of the developers had voiced concerns regarding the potential for centralized institutions to eventually control the internet. The philosophy behind the internet is so powerful and that is something that the developers understood. The original developers wanted the internet to serve as a tool for individuals around the globe, not to be harnessed by governments and powerful institutions. Sadly this is precisely what has happened with the internet over the last 20 years. A handful of governments and institutions virtually have significant control over the internet, and have used it for their own self-interests. Individuals today just seem to accept internet monitoring and surveillance by governments as common place, because the government attempted and succeeded in having vast control over the internet since its inception.

Instead of the internet serving as a tool for individuals around the globe to have access to the same information, numerous firms hoard much of the information and use it for their own purposes. For example, rather than FaceBook serving as a way for individuals to have access to vast information and rewarding the contributors who allow the site to flourish, Facebook sucks up nearly all of the value created by their platform and hoard it for themselves. Firms such as Google were never anticipated by the original developers, because the idea of running all web traffic through a centralized company who collects and records all actions would seem simply ludicrous. Let's think about mobile phone application, instead of buyers buying the applications directly from the developers or creators, the system revolves around a centralized app platform which sucks up a great amount of the value. Whether individuals notice it or not, governments and large firms have taken it upon themselves to control the internet and in term suck up much the value created by it.

What makes people so sure that this type of behavior wouldn't happen again?

The question is not whether governments and firms will attempt to control and steal value from blockchain technology, but rather will blockchain technology already be adopted by the time they do? When we look at the example of the internet, by the time most individuals in the US were on the internet the government already had a majority of the control over it. If the government didn't attempt to gain control over it until a few years after most individuals were online, then they would have likely had a much harder time gaining control and harnessing the power of the internet. The advantage that blockchain technology seems to have is that up until recently Bitcoin and blockchain technology were dismissed and written off by big centralized firms and governments. There is no doubt that the government could harness aspects of blockchain technology and use them to advance their own interests, and if the past shows us anything then individuals should realize that government control and manipulation over new technologies leads to long term negative consequences. 

Imagine if the immutable ledger technology offered by the blockchain was used by governments to track spending on credit and debit cards. I know that this may seem a bit far fetched, but there is already ample evidence that the government monitors and has access to individuals banking and credit cards. Not only would this be a complete breach of privacy, but imagine the implications that could come from this type of system. I'll use an example to show a feasible scenario and the repercussions from this. It's a friday night and you and your friends decide to run down to the store and get a case of beer and a pack of cigarettes. If the government kept a real time database of all spending they can see that you purchased those items, and was able to share that information with your health insurance provider. Healthcare companies have been trying to be able to charge different rates based upon an individual's health habits, but this type of data base would make this process vastly easier and more practical. Although this may seem rather far fetched, this is just a small example of the consequences from governments harnessing blockchain technology to further  their own agenda. 

A truly decentralized and private digital system is the government's worst enemy. 

The United States government as well as many others from around the world have such a strong stance against encryption and digital privacy that they will do everything in their power to dismantle encrypted internet systems. It is extremely likely that at least one government agency analyzes data on the Bitcoin blockchain, which shows the likely response bitcoin or another major blockchain service would face upon adoption. The bitcoin blockchain's transparent nature is great for individuals, but it also makes it easier for institutions to track those individual's activity. This isn't necessarily different from what institutions do to nearly all transmittable data, but it shows that even many of the current blockchain services and systems are not immune to government intrusion and surveillance. 

But, the advantages that blockchain systems have over existing systems in terms of surveillance is that the blockchain systems have outpaced the government's ability to keep up with these technologies, or a technology of their own. If blockchain technologies continue to advance rapidly, then it is highly likely that these systems would be adopted by the public way before the government has an infrastructure in place to introduce their own new systems. If a blockchain platform that offers full end-to-end encryption for individuals is adopted by the majority of society, then the government would have little idea how to combat the system. Just think of the two major technology companies within the US over the last 20 years, which are FaceBook and Google. Both of these platform specifically cater to the government's requests for customer data, which seems to often go undiscussed. If a platform or system is build by the people and for the people, one of the biggest aspects that need to be captured is the aspect of individual's privacy. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and I encourage any comments or discussions to be left below.  If you enjoyed this content and wish to see more upcoming related posts, please consider giving me a follow. Thanks for reading!

image sources:1-2