Web3 to strengthen digital rights and privacy in 2025

Web3 technologies are set to play a pivotal role in safeguarding digital rights and privacy in 2025, with a focus on decentralised identity solutions, data ownership, and protecting sensitive information.

Edison Chen, CEO of Web3 health and wellness company CUDIS, emphasised the importance of selective disclosure through decentralised identity solutions, which would enable users to control their personal data and even monetise it.

“Historically, big companies have controlled user data, often monetising it without consent. That’s changing. People now want to own their data and decide how it’s shared and monetised,” Chen explained.

This shift toward user ownership is crucial, especially in sectors like healthcare, where confidentiality is essential, and the rise of artificial intelligence could threaten privacy.

Privacy concerns are escalating as new technologies like AI and quantum computers challenge traditional methods of safeguarding sensitive data.

David Holtzman, Chief Strategy Officer of Naoris, highlighted the vulnerability of centralised data repositories.

He noted that such systems are prone to single points of failure, making them targets for threat actors.

He added that AI systems could exploit blockchain transaction data to launch more precise attacks, and quantum computers could break modern encryption, jeopardising sectors such as finance, military intelligence, and healthcare.

Holtzman stressed that decentralised blockchain technologies could provide a solution, reducing privacy risks by decentralising AI and implementing quantum-resistant cryptography.

This could help safeguard sensitive data from potential quantum threats.

In line with this, Tether (CRYPTO:USDT) CEO Paolo Ardoino argued for localising AI models to enhance privacy.

He suggested that smartphones and laptops are sufficiently powerful to run AI solutions locally, bypassing the need for centralised servers, which are prone to data breaches.