Towards a decentralized data privacy protocol for self-sovereignty in the digital world

TL;DR

This paper proposes a decentralized data privacy protocol to enable users to manage their privacy preferences across multiple digital services in a user-centric manner, addressing the limitations of current service-centric privacy management.

Contribution

It introduces a novel decentralized protocol that shifts privacy management from service-centric to user-centric, facilitating holistic control over privacy preferences.

Findings

Conceptual framework for decentralized privacy management

Addresses challenges of cross-service privacy preference management

Lays groundwork for future implementation of user-centric privacy protocols

Abstract

A typical user interacts with many digital services nowadays, providing these services with their data. As of now, the management of privacy preferences is service-centric: Users must manage their privacy preferences according to the rules of each service provider, meaning that every provider offers its unique mechanisms for users to control their privacy settings. However, managing privacy preferences holistically (i.e., across multiple digital services) is just impractical. In this vision paper, we propose a paradigm shift towards an enriched user-centric approach for cross-service privacy preferences management: the realization of a decentralized data privacy protocol.