DMail’s founder says email should be decentralized and protect data sovereignty.
The crypto market is hot, and prices have been in “only up” mode since the beginning of the year, but looking at developments beyond Bitcoin and memecoins, the industry's focus on decentralization remains intact, and for good reason.
Just this week, several news outlets reported that the tech giant Netflix had agreed to spend up to $150 million in advertising in 2017 to send direct messages to Facebook users after a lawsuit against Meta.
A separate incident announced on March 30 involved the automatic reset of millions of customer account passwords after U.S. telecom giant AT&T acknowledged a data vendor that leaked 73 million AT&T customer records in a 2019 data breach.
As usual, the list of data breaches and instances of misuse of customer and user data are more detailed. Simply do a quick Google search to see for yourself.
In Episode 33 of the Agenda Podcast, hosts Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung sit down with Daniel James, co-founder of DMail, to discuss why everything, including email, needs to be decentralized.
Decentralize it!
Spam, phishing emails, and the risk of personal information being deleted or sold are common concerns shared by email users, and James says that “blockchain improves security because there is no single point of failure for hackers to target.”
James added that DMail prioritizes privacy by encrypting every email, which makes it “difficult for attackers to hack email accounts and intercept communications.” The decentralized nature of the service also gives users data sovereignty.
“It's a world of war. It's a more moral world where you're not a product. You are really getting something from this forum. And that's what initially attracted a lot of people to Web3, because you have data sovereignty. To me, the push to get into Web3 was mostly about Big Tech basically being the arbiter of truth and getting past the mark, getting political and censoring some stuff. To me, it's not the job for Big Tech, regardless of your political stance. This should not happen.
“Email solves these kinds of problems, but it brings something completely different to the table. It brings Web3, the blockchain layer, and the possibilities are endless,” James explained.
When asked how DMail or any decentralized platform could replace Gmail's dominance, James pointed out that the ultimate goal is not to replace Gmail, but to overcome “ethical concerns” and replicate their “amazing user experience and user interface.”
Related: Google's inclusion of Bitcoin wallet accounts sparks privacy debate
Jacob said:
“I think it's a great product, the way it's done. And if we can replicate the UI [user interface] and UX [user experience], so nice. But there are ethical issues. There is a fact that you can be bombarded with unsolicited emails. Your data is not yours. Your repository is not completely decentralized. Revenue sources are basically the only downfall in the company. So that's a great example of centralization. And so with Gmail, I think the value proposition is completely different. You own your own data, you own your own drive, everything is yours and data autonomy.
To hear more — including James' crypto origin story and Dimmel's future plans — listen to the entire episode on Cointelegraph's podcasts page, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And don't forget to check out Cointelegraph's full lineup of other shows!
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This article is not intended for general information purposes and should not be construed as legal or investment advice. The views, ideas and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
