Inventor of web offers the opportunity to regain control of the data

A new company, co-founded by Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the web, proposes to recover it for users and push a system where users, instead of giant corporations like Google and Facebook, have their own own data. .

"I've always thought the web was for everyone. That's why I and others fight hard to protect it. The changes we have made have created a better, more connected world, "Berners-Lee said in a blog post announcing the new company. "Despite all the benefits we have gained, the Web has become a driver of inequity and division. influenced by powerful forces that use it for their own programs. "

Inrupt, officially launched yesterday, aims to encourage developers to create applications based on a technology called Solid, designed by Berners-Lee, that allows users to own and move their data. An application can be a digital personal assistant, such as Siri or Alexa, but more powerful because it allows to see more data of a user.

"Charlie works for you, Charlie does not work for Google, nor for Amazon," said John Bruce, general manager of Inrupt. "When Charlie has access to all your data, he will be able to consult your calendar, your physical form, your next flights."

Bruce said the company's technology was based on the existing Web, a decision that the company says will make it easier for developers and users to adopt. Today, much of the user data is held by companies such as Facebook and Google, and it is the companies that decide how to use it. Last week, for example, Facebook said that users' phone numbers provided to enhance security were quickly used to target ads.

"For the service they give me, they take my data," Bruce said. "He is dominated by huge forces that take advantage."

Berners-Lee invented the Web almost 30 years ago. Last year, he received the A. Turing Award, awarded to those who make a significant and sustainable contribution to IT. He is sometimes described as the Nobel Prize for computer science.

"There is a wave of worry and related energy, desperate for change. People want to have a web that they can trust. People want apps that help them do what they want and what they need to do without spying on them, "he said in the blog's article. "Applications that have no ulterior motive to distract them by offering to buy this or that. People will pay for this type of quality and insurance.

Bruce refused to give a schedule for this new decentralized website. Inrupt is supported by local venture capital firm Glasswing Ventures. Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner of Glasswing, declined to share the details of the investment, but said the company had significant potential.

"I see a tremendous opportunity for the evolution of the Web compared to what it is today," Seseri said. "Inrupt has the potential to become the business driver that will fuel Sir Tim Berner-Lee's vision for Solid's success, where individuals and businesses control their data and data is freed from silos, which can be linked between applications." and products.