EthSign - The Digital Signature Revolution. The Future Role of EthSign in Web 3.0
The modern world is changing rapidly, technology is filling our lives and changing the processes that we are used to. Changes, of course, have affected the "versions" of the Internet. The Web is changing, and since the "version" of Web 1.0, the familiar Internet has changed significantly. Now we are on the verge of moving from "version" Web 2.0 to "version" Web 3.0.
Let's briefly examine what these versions of the Internet and how they differ, to understand the essence of the processes taking place, and their impact on our daily lives.
In short, in the "version" of Web 1.0 users did not yet have the ability to create content, they could only read the information that was posted on Web resources. There was no possibility to authorize, there were no trackers and registrations. All the information from the sites was stored on servers in file systems, and was output as it was.
The Web 2.0 era began in 2004 and continues to this day. During this period, large corporations and users stepped in. Corporations took control of the Web and began to build their online empires, and users were allowed to participate in content creation. Web 2.0 itself operates on the Read/Write Web principle.
It became possible to authorize on the Internet and create an account on almost every resource. Users began to voluntarily leave their data and consent to the collection of data in exchange for the convenience and ability to use the resources. Companies gained an opportunity to make money on the data, selling it to advertising agencies, and some companies opened their own, which helped to fully concentrate profits in their hands.
In Web 2.0 appeared a lot of social functions: messaging, calls, communication. Also to the socialization can be added the possibility of personalization: users can design their own profiles, add photos, notes, articles and videos. It's now possible to get the likes on their publications.
The basis of Web 2.0 are recommender algorithms. Based on the many algorithms that work almost everywhere, from social networks to marketplaces, users are recommended content and products that may be of interest to him. This is the main task of corporations - to give people something that will interest them in order to keep them on their site as long as possible.
Given the growing popularity of social networks and the abundance of content posted by users themselves, the need for rules and careful moderation was created, which led to the fact that users cannot control the content they publish, and sites have the right to remove data that they consider to be in violation of their rules.
Right now, on the basis of Web 2.0, a new space is being born, which should solve all the basic problems of the old era. To go beyond the usual understanding of the network and interact with the physical world - this is the task that Web 3.0 will have to solve.
The most important thing that Web 3.0 has to solve is the problem of centralization. Instead of storing data on a single server, that data should be distributed to users. All necessary computations will move from data centers to users' laptops, phones and smart gadgets.
Secondly, it should change the way you authorize in services to a single layer, which will be your key to all the resources on the network. Now there is something similar, with a Google account or a Facebook account, you can log in to almost any site, but in the case of Web 3.0, you will have a single account, which will be both a wallet and a banking application.
And finally the Internet should become more democratized, where the main decisions will be made by the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), where the participants of the DAO will have the right to vote and will make decisions on important issues by voting.
Now Web 3.0 is only at the beginning of its formation, and most of its principles and advantages remain only ideas and cause more questions than understanding. But already now it is obvious that the world of the Internet is moving in this direction, and Web 3.0 in the near future will become a reality that can significantly change people's lives and change many habitual processes at the moment.
What is EthSign's role in the future era of Web 3.0
EthSign is a digital signature platform that is designed to greatly simplify the familiar process of signing agreements. As it stands now, signing agreements is a complex process that requires specialists to review the data, read it, analyze it, make the necessary edits, and negotiate the terms. The agreement we're used to has to go through a series of steps, with manual preparation and non-automated storage. EthSign automates all of these processes and provides a state-of-the-art approval system and platform for connectivity and collaboration.
Another important point that EthSign gives us, which should be the foundation of the future Web 3.0, is decentralization. There will be no centralized storage on a single server, EthSign encrypts and stores files on different decentralized networks (such as Filecoin, IPFS, Sia (Skynet) and Arweave), giving the user the choice of network for storage.
The user will be able to log in with different wallets to be able to sign an agreement. And even if you don't have a crypto wallet you don't have to worry, EthSign also supports platforms like Torus and Fortmatic that allow the user to create a private key based on an existing identity, such as an email or Google account, or a Twitter profile.
Simply put, in the era of Web 3.0, which is already upon us, using the power of EthSign, you can enter into any agreement from home with just a crypto wallet as your identifier. And by storing all the information in blockchain, on decentralized servers, all parties involved will have access to verify signatures, download documents, and view the entire life cycle of the agreement. In addition, this storage option virtually eliminates the possibility of any manipulation or tampering of documents other than taking possession of your identifier.
The only problem that still exists in the way of widespread use of this technology is legalization. In order for signing agreements right from home with a cryptocurrency wallet to become a reality - the necessary laws need to be implemented to make it all legal. There are countries that have supported signing agreements using blockchain, such as China, but it will take some time before mass adoption. But, we all know that everything starts small, that new technologies need time for people to understand that it is much more convenient, to settle all the legal issues. And sooner or later, Web 3.0 and the ability to sign agreements right from home with your cryptocurrency wallet will become as commonplace as, for example, paying for groceries with a bank card.
At the moment there is a beta testing of the EthSign platform, and you can already touch the future and try how it all works. I'm not going to make another testnet guide, the web is already full of them, if you need - you can find one of them on the EthSign discord. But the testnet itself isn't hard, and it's intuitive. You can go through it here