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From Surveillance to Privacy: tomi’s Commitment to Digital Rights
From Surveillance to Privacy: tomi’s Commitment to Digital Rights
Data is undeniably crowned as the most important resource in the digital age, and its ability to drive marketing campaigns, influence politics, and create value for businesses cements its status as a hot commodity. However, users as sources of this personal data do not see any value generated from their own information in [……].

tomi Team
·
February 5, 2025
From Surveillance to Privacy: tomi’s Commitment to Digital Rights
Data is undeniably crowned as the most important resource in the digital age, and its ability to drive marketing campaigns, influence politics, and create value for businesses cements its status as a hot commodity. However, users as sources of this personal data do not see any value generated from their own information in Web 2 systems.



Centralized systems concentrate power in large organizations and governments, both of which have a long history of using internet surveillance to track user activity, capture information, and create detailed profiles to profit themselves.



Web 2 companies track users and collect their personal data far from being secret. In fact, by October 2024, up to 85% of consumers in the US fully agree that users are “constantly tracked and their data collected,” reflecting a broader trend across states in recent years, with 62% of users aware that companies sold their data over 75% in 2020, and the same understanding reported again in 2022.



While this dominant system of corporate and government capture and use of personal data has existed for decades, change is beginning to happen. Decentralized platforms and Web3 systems promise to empower users, returning control of personal data to the individuals.



In this article, we explore the new era of digital surveillance and data privacy, detailing how Web3 alternatives like tomi can represent a better future for users worldwide.

The Age of Surveillance
Internet surveillance involves tracking any actions, behaviors, and interests of users as they browse web pages. Due to the dominance of a few companies in the Web 2 space, a small number of platforms are disproportionately used for internet navigation. For example, 65% of internet users rely on Chrome as their preferred browser, giving Google a large share of user interaction with the web.



Websites use cookies and other monitoring technologies to track user interactions, building profiles of what users do on sites, how they spend their time, and what images interest them. While this information itself is not malicious, it holds enormous value for companies willing to pay.



Back in 2022, Google was ordered to pay nearly $400 million in a privacy settlement, admitting that it was collecting private user data and sharing it with third-party vendors. These third-party platforms can deploy user information to create marketing campaigns and sell products, creating a profitable market based on customer data.



A recent report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the US also indicates that governments worldwide are willing to participate in the same culture of user surveillance. While not admitting to tracking user activity, the report shows how the US government actively purchases data to monitor the personal behaviors, social relationships, and speech of its citizens.



Whether led by global corporations or governments, these methods of extracting user data—either for sale or intelligence—are direct violations of users’ fundamental privacy rights.

The Importance of Digital Rights
Countries around the world have always placed high importance on data protection and personal privacy rights. Laws like data protection regulations, the (or “the”) General Data Protection Regulation, and privacy laws all aim to give users control over their data, including how it is stored, erased, and accessed upon request.



These laws aim to provide three core pillars for users worldwide:



Complete Privacy:
The right to control how your personal data is used, where it is stored, and who can do what with it.
Access to Information:
A commitment that all users will have fair and equal access to information and the ability to request data related to them.
Freedom of Expression:
The ability to freely express oneself online, as long as it does not infringe on others’ freedoms or rights to be free from violence and discrimination.


Each of these rights forms the foundation of online experience because they allow users to browse the internet, access information, and participate in online discussions fairly. However, the forced collection of user data by tech companies and governments for surveillance and capitalist purposes directly opposes these rights.



The legacy of Web 2 systems has normalized the loss of control over personal data, creating a system where users forget that they own their data and should be the ones controlling it.

The Push for Decentralized Privacy
Web3 technology—driven by decentralization, user-first operation, and user privacy—has the potential to return data control and agency to the users. Decentralized systems aim to remove any central power, instead distributing control and data across a broad network.



In Web 2 systems, companies like Meta, Google, and X hold enormous power over user data because they are large institutions that house information from users worldwide. The decentralized structure of Web3 abandons this tradition, returning power to users, allowing them to decide where to store data, how to use it, and how to handle it. Web3 prioritizes security, placing users’ wishes and safety above all.



One driver of privacy in Web3 projects is the use of identity coins. In Web 2 systems, verifying personal data requires sharing information with companies, which can store it and potentially use it for malicious purposes, such as selling it to marketing agencies.



In decentralized systems, users can leverage identity coins—digital representations of their data. Instead of revealing this data to companies, they can use coins to verify and authenticate their identity, issuing a proof token of authenticity without directly revealing the information to the recipient.



Identity coins and their data-sharing methods centralize the user experience, making privacy a top priority. By returning privacy to users and giving them more control over what they share online, this decentralized approach defies the standard handling of personal data in Web 2 and sets a new, user-centric precedent.

The Future of Digital Rights
A Web3 internet that returns power to users will fundamentally change the active landscape of digital rights and privacy. While adoption of Web3 remains a tough battle, the significant improvements in quality of life it can bring may mark a major turning point in internet history.



Of course, the shift to Web3 applications and the broader decentralized internet will directly erode the power of today’s Web2 tech giants. This may face strong resistance from these entities, as the transition from a surveillance-driven internet to a privacy-first model will eat into their profits and weaken their control over customers.



By providing a truly decentralized internet experience, tomi is leading the fight against Web 2 surveillance with powerful privacy protections. tomi is an easy-to-use platform that offers users familiar with Web 2 internet a parallel experience—one that can help them break free from centralized