Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, it is a topic that I suggest that all computer users should be familiar with this new technology:

Without a question, the Internet has completely changed the way we live. It has altered the way we communicate, travel, work, get information, and engage with one another. We benefit from an increased degree of freedom as a result of the democratization and decentralization of information. As a result, the public's access to information about issues affecting both the globe and themselves has increased significantly thanks to the Internet. The mainstream media and centralized authorities are losing influence as a result of the Internet.

But not everything is perfect. We have overlooked—or have been forced to overlook—something as significant in our haste to seize the liberties provided by the Internet: our privacy. People often forget that they are the real product of these new free services, as billions of people rush to sign up for the newest social media networks.

Parts of the Internet became factories for data collecting, with important user information and data being handed on to the platforms' real customers — the highest bidder — thanks to incentives from "free" platforms and peer pressure. Large swaths of the Internet were taken over by a few dominant firms, which harvested data property that did not belong to them, weakened privacy rights, and made censorship easier. (Can you say "Google" or "FaceBook" boys and girls?)

Privacy awareness has increased as a result of this centralizing influence as well as other worries about accessibility, surveillance, and net neutrality. In order to provide a more democratic, private, secure, censorship-resistant, and decentralized Internet of the future, there is an increase in the use of VPN and DPN services.

Virtual private networks (VPNs)

I rather like the Wikipedia definition of VPNs:

"A virtual private network (VPN) is a mechanism for creating a secure connection between a computing device and a computer network, or between two networks, using an insecure communication medium such as the public Internet.

A VPN can extend access to a private network (one that disallows or restricts public access) to users who do not have direct access to it, such as an office network allowing secure access from off-site over the Internet.

The benefits of a VPN include security, reduced costs for dedicated communication lines, and greater flexibility for remote workers.

A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of tunneling protocols over existing networks. A VPN available from the public Internet can provide some of the benefits of a private wide area network (WAN)."

You can read more about VPNs on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network as well as on dozens of other web sites.

Private Networks That Are Decentralized

Decentralized Private Networks, sometimes known as decentralized VPNs (often abbreviated to DPN or DVPN), function similarly to virtual private networks (VPNs) in that they transit web traffic via encrypted tunnels over decentralized networks as opposed to centralized ones. Higher security levels are ensured by serverless and distributed architecture, which prevents user data from being tracked, compromised, or subpoenaed.

VPNs are growing in popularity as people become more conscious of privacy concerns and challenges related to data and information centralization. Blockchain and cryptocurrency innovators are already taking advantage of this need to provide decentralized enhanced security for online users.

User devices function as the client (typically individual Internet users) and a server or multiple servers (such as Amazon Web Services or Google or even individual desktop or laptop computers in use in private homes) in a decentralized private network such as Deeper Network or Mysterium Network. Additionally, the IP addresses automatically shift in accordance with their routing rules, creating global tunnels to connect to other nodes.

Similar to virtual private networks (VPNs), decentralized private networks have the advantage of not requiring a central point of control. This indicates that the network cannot be taken down and that there are no central locations to attack. Because no centralized supplier has access to the data that users were attempting to secure, the individual users (clients) also retain control over their data.

For instance, Deeper Network and other DPNs integrate blockchain technology, network security, and the sharing economy to build a worldwide peer-to-peer network that provides the same level of resistance against censorship and data theft as conventional VPNs, but without the requirement for a central server. The same is true with other services that enable total privacy for information sharing between apps, users, and organizations, such as Mysterium Network and HOPR.

Deeper Network and Mysterium and others insure privacy and increase security simply because there is no central organization that can retain records that can be subpoenaed by central governments. Rather than use high-tech language to explain how DPNs work, I will revert to a non-technical explanation:

DPNs work by creating an environment whereby interested users can "meet" and negotiate connection services. It is as if a client in Singapore says "I am available" and a client in the United States says "I am looking for an available client in Singapore." The two clients remain anonymous to each other, then connect and data is exchanged directly between the client in the United States and the client in Singapore" with no other "middleman" involved. The client in Singapore typically provides data from local online connections in Singapore, encrypts it, and then provides that data to the client in the United States. Unlike traditional VPNs, the central DPN organization does not know which clients are communicating with each other and never sees the data being exchanged. Therefore, a central government or any other organization or an individual hacker cannot monitor the connection and cannot later obtain any records of what transpired, even with a subpoena.

In addition to software, there are hardware solutions that, such as Deeper Connect, also establish a private network that allows users to browse the Internet normally through a DPN. These hardware-based decentralized DPNs provide a one-time purchase option without a subscription. Additionally, DPN users have the option to profit from sharing their unused bandwidth with other users.

All of this combines to produce a more pleasurable, safe, and genuinely private network for Internet browsing. In addition, most DPNs are available either free of charge to the end user or else may be available at greatly reduced charges when compared to traditional VPNs. 

DPNs have a strong chance of guiding the Internet from its current state to a safe communication area where ethics and technology converge to protect individual liberty, freedom, and dignity.