Читать книгу Bitcoin, Blockchain & Co. - Joe Martin - Страница 6

What does it mean for us that we can rely 100 percent on the details anchored in a blockchain? That is a question that is difficult to answer, and a new question for us because trusting completely in data is counterintuitive to us. We are often happy to give away the data of our orders, our bank accounts, and our movements to Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple and other digital entities, and for the most part, we don’t even think about what happens with our data. But sometimes we are alarmed—and rightly so. Maybe we are alarmed because a hacker has stolen 140 million records from the Equifax company or because someone has stolen our personal identity. While we might be more trusting in giving data, we are becoming more and more skeptical of the data we receive and rely on.

Fundamentally, we trust these large companies, these centralized administrators and marketers with our data. We rely on them. We have the expectation that a company of their size must know how to protect their customers’ private data. (Ha, ha, ha).

Nevertheless, that trust only goes so far, and it has to stop somewhere. With the number of security failures and leaks that have occurred in recent years, we are beginning to become distrustful of institutions. Blockchain will change all that.

If you can rely 100 percent on entries in a database, could you then purchase something from a third party without knowing who he or she is?

How do you know that this person can pay? How do you know that this person is the legal owner of the goods for sale? Up until now, you didn’t. Up until now, you could only cross your fingers or maintain a level of ignorance and indifference.

If you buy a car from a complete stranger whom you have only spoken to briefly on the telephone, you would want the papers for the vehicle, right? You would like a purchase contract and invoice, and you would want a reliable record of the payment you have made by putting it into the bank. If you were the seller, you would want evidence that the payment had been received and assurance from the bank that it is not counterfeit or fraudulent. This is particularly true when we are dealing with someone from out of state or even from abroad. You would ideally like a copy of their ID so you can find them if something goes wrong. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be a little bit wary of when completing transactions with total strangers. How can you trust them? Is everything that they are telling you true? Do you know the truth?

What if we’re talking about buying something much bigger? If you want to purchase some real estate, surely there are lawyers for that, right? True. But that’s another professional group that will be made redundant by blockchain technology. What? Pardon? Lawyers are becoming redundant?