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Why IPFS is the Future of Internet Storage Systems

Let’s demystify IPFS

IPFS is a new and growing technology that underpins some of the most exciting innovations in tech since it took the stage in 2015. AXEL Go and its decentralized server structure takes full advantage of IPFS to secure your data, but how does that work? Why does AXEL Go use the IPFS protocol over something more familiar like HTTP or FTP? IPFS holds several advantages over these protocols of the past and protects our clients like nothing the internet has seen before. Join us as we take a trip into IPFS 101.

What Should You Know about IPFS?

IPFS is a distributed peer-to-peer file-sharing system that is used online to store and access anything from the most basic bit of data to personal documents and websites. It is easy to think of the InterPlanetary File System as an over-complicated, difficult-to-grasp protocol with no practical applications in the real world. This couldn’t be further from the truth. IPFS is simply the next evolution in a rapidly growing and changing internet.

In 2015, IPFS was born. At this time, a team at a company called Protocol Labs began working on a decentralized method of storing and accessing files. CEO Juan Benet and his developers worked tirelessly on the protocol, taking inspiration from other decentralized methods of sharing information, such as the BitTorrent protocol, which had been growing in popularity since 2001.

When Protocol Labs set out to develop IPFS, it initially had very little to set it apart from something like BitTorrent or similar decentralized methods of collective data storage and sharing. With time, however, IPFS set itself apart from the file sharing protocols it took inspiration from by aiming to create a decentralized global network.

How IPFS Works

IPFS is a set of rules that govern how data is shared and stored across a set of servers. A server, as defined by the IPFS protocol, can be something as complex as a server warehouse or as humble as a smartphone. What matters most to the IPFS framework is the ability to house a fragment of data for later retrieval. How does this basic framework scale up to create the framework for a distributed internet? How does IPFS differ from your standard internet protocol

The internet, as we currently understand it uses the familiar HTTP protocol. This is, at its core, a method of storing and distributing data to users, similar to how IPFS works. When a client wants to access a site or the data held on a single server, their machine sends a request, and the server on the other end replies by granting or denying access to the data requested. This method has been acceptable enough for the early days of the internet. Still, as the technology available to the layperson has grown in sheer power and accessibility, HTTP has shown its age in recent years.

Decentralization

A single server acting as a digital air traffic controller creates a great many shortfalls. The massive point of failure is most glaringly sitting right in the middle of this model. If a centralized server goes offline, be that through nefarious or benign methods, clients all over the planet will be denied access. Bad actors will take advantage of this fact when executing DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks or regular infiltration attacks. When a single server is in charge of crucial data, it necessarily becomes a gleaming target for bad actors.

By taking advantage of a distributed structure, IPFS becomes exponentially more stable and secure. IPFS stores the information on multiple servers, or nodes, all around the world. This distribution increases stability by creating numerous points of access that can act as backups no matter the state of a single node. Decentralizing data in this way makes it practically impossible for bad actors to fall back on their old tricks. DDoS attacks simply will not find a foothold on a distributed internet, and grabbing ahold of the data in a single IPFS node will not give hackers enough information to decrypt.

IPFS is an internet protocol that strives for more than simply reinventing the wheel. Its structure acts as a protective layer for clients online and the internet at large. 

The Benefits of IPFS 

Beyond additional security and a significant boost to privacy, IPFS mainly sets out to do precisely what the internet does in its current state. To the average user, it may seem like nothing has changed on the surface. Still, their essential experience and expectation of the future will fundamentally change the more we as a digital community can fold IPFS into our lives.

IPFS promises to put more control into the hands of the people. In Turkey, for example, Wikipedia was blocked across the country. With the help of IPFS and decentralized storage, the people of Turkey could visit a fully-featured archive of Wikipedia’s entire wealth of knowledge. This marvel of community was made possible by IPFS and the inherent benefits of a decentralized server structure.

By creating spaces on the internet that can not be removed by knocking over a single server, millions of users can gain access to data that would otherwise fall victim to privacy overreach. Decentralized structures make it impossible to wrangle all of an entity’s data in a single place, making IPFS nodes safe to store private information. Comparing centralized servers to IPFS node structure shows us the clear advantage that IPFS has when it comes to protecting privileged information from bad actors and any interested parties for which they may be gathering this data.

Why AXEL Go Uses IPFS

AXEL Go is a decentralized storage and security service that believes in privacy above all else. AXEL Go rides the cutting–edge of technology by employing several of the most exciting innovations in computer science and data transfer protocols.

For AXEL, the InterPlanetary File System represents the next step in privacy and security online. AXEL Go uses end-to-end encryption to protect and obscure data when in transit to clients and from the decentralized nodes that make up its server structure. However, the distributed nature of these nodes provides a sizable bulk of the security and privacy once data is sitting safely on these servers.

IPFS gives AXEL the freedom to protect our clients as fiercely as possible without compromising our customers’ privacy and autonomy. The decentralized nature of our server structure means that AXEL has no control over the data our customers store on our nodes. IPFS also gives our customers peace of mind in the form of robust data backups and drastically reduced chances of server failure. The sort of centralized blackouts that would bring a service like Dropbox or Google Drive to its knees would need to happen dozens of times over before AXEL Go would feel a similar effect. 

IPFS is the server structure of the future, and AXEL is happy to take advantage of this rapidly growing technology’s security, privacy, and reliability. Together with our end-to-end encryption, secure fetch, and password-protected file-sharing sessions, AXEL Go is bringing privacy and security to the workplace one file-share at a time.

Try AXEL Go Today

AXEL Go is an incredibly versatile tool in the fight for cyber security. Implementing our decentralized, encrypted storage into a workplace will create a robust bulwark between sensitive workplace data and any clever exploits hackers can slip through the cracks.


AXEL Go is a file storage and sharing service designed to revolutionize how we think about security online. Our user experience design is focused on handing top-of-the-line security to any business of any size. Our AES-256 bit encryption and decentralized server structure thwart cyber attacks on big businesses as competently as it protects local operations. No matter how tight the budget for your practice may be, we are the perfect fit for secure, intuitive storage file sharing. You can try AXEL Go premium for free for 14 days. See what security backed by our $10,000 guarantee can do for your business.

Privacy Labels Reveal Interesting Insights About Popular Cloud Drives

In late 2020, Apple launched its Privacy Label initiative[1]. Now, all apps sold through the App Store need to include a privacy label with future updates. These labels inform consumers about how the application collects and uses consumer data. Since millions of people use file-sharing and cloud storage platforms to transfer and store their personal content, we believed it’d be interesting to compare the privacy labels of the Big Tech offerings to AXEL Go.

A primer on terminology

Before getting into the comparison, it’s important to define the terms you’ll see often. Apple separated the data the apps collect into three different categories.

Data Used to Track You. This is the most troublesome category. It means that the app tracks personal information explicitly to form a coherent picture of your identity. This could stretch across your entire internet usage or even into your real-life shopping habits. It’s a tactic Facebook notoriously employs[2], and it’s by far the most invasive type of data collection.

Companies engaged in these activities link data generated from the app with information from third parties for targeted advertising or analytics. These organizations potentially even share their data sets (including your exact location) with shady data brokers. If possible, we recommend ditching apps that track you like this.

Data Linked to You. This includes much of the same types of data as the previous category, except it is not tracked across your full web experience. It’s still linked to your identity, however, and is still sold to third parties regularly. Avoid it when you can.

Data Not Linked to You. This is data that the company has explicitly anonymized. It could mean removing direct identifiers like user ID/Name/Device ID and data manipulation to prevent re-linkage or de-anonymization. To claim this, you must not ‘fingerprint’ or use other data sets to establish a potential identity.

Now, onto the comparison.

Dropbox

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Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dropbox-cloud-storage-backup/id327630330

DropBox comes out the worst in this comparison. It’s the only one with entries in the ‘Data Used to Track You’ category, making it a significant threat to the privacies of over 600 million users worldwide. It also collects a vast amount of data, including:

  • Contact Info (Name, email address, phone number, physical address, etc.)
  • Identifiers (Screen name, handle, account ID, etc.)
  • Purchases (Purchase history)
  • Contacts (List of your phone’s contacts, address books, social graphs, etc.)
  • Search History (information regarding searches you made in-app)
  • Usage Data (App launch info, taps, scrolling data, clicks, views, biometric eye data, etc.)
  • User Content (in this case, content stored on DropBox servers)
  • Diagnostics (crash logs, performance metrics, etc.)

Obviously, some of this data is more sensitive than other types. For instance, diagnostic information is potentially less harmful than giving up the contents of your cloud storage to what amounts to corporate surveillance. Regardless, it’s all info that they can link to you for identification purposes.

Google Drive

Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-drive/id507874739

Google isn’t known for its commitment to privacy. Although its cloud service, Google Drive, fares a bit better than Dropbox, there’s still not much to like. It collects the same types of data and adds “Location” into the mix. Why would a cloud storage application need to know your location? Unknown, but it likely isn’t a valid reason. It’s unspecified whether they monitor your ‘Precise Location’ or ‘Coarse Location,’ but Google doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. Assume they know exactly where you are at all times when you’re using any of their services, including Drive. They also collect the nebulously-termed “Other” data, which Apple doesn’t define. If you’re one of the over one billion users[3] of Drive, consider alternatives.

Microsoft OneDrive

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Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-onedrive/id477537958

Of the Big Tech offerings, Microsoft’s OneDrive is the least offensive. It collects the least amount of data and doesn’t track you across websites. However, the personal information it does collect is still sensitive—especially Contact Info, Identifiers, and User Content. So, Microsoft not only collects your personally identifying information but, like its major competitors, it still mines user content. It’s an inexcusable invasion of privacy that anyone who cares about such matters can’t look past.

AXEL Go

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Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/axel-go/id1462043114

The Silicon Valley mainstays don’t value your privacy. At the end of the day, they make a lot of money from your data alone. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good options. Privacy-based alternatives like AXEL Go exist.

Our team designed the entire platform to promote privacy, security, and data custody.  And that starts with the fact that AXEL doesn’t collect any data linked to its users. In fact, AXEL is the only competitor in this comparison that doesn’t link data to your identity. Most of the information we manage is diagnostic, and usage data, which helps our developers see how you’re using the app to inform future improvements. Any contact info we store is sufficiently anonymized so that nobody can link it back to you. We respect everyone’s right to privacy.

Try AXEL Go

If you’re used to sharing and storing data online with platforms such as Google Drive or Dropbox, AXEL Go is a breath of fresh air. Our simple, intuitive user interface is a breeze to navigate while still offering industry-leading security and privacy features.

The platform is backed by secure technology like the InterPlanetary File System, blockchain, and military-grade encryption. Together with the fact that only AXEL emphasizes users take control of their personal information, you’ve got an application that stands above the competition. Try it out today and see the AXEL difference. Basic accounts are free, and you can upgrade to a Premium account with all features for only $9.99/month. Help usher in a better internet. Join the AXEL Revolution.

 

[1] Nick Statt. “Apple launches new App Store privacy labels so you can see how iOS apps use your data”, The Verge, Dec. 14, 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/14/22174017/apple-app-store-new-privacy-labels-ios-apps-public

[2] Aaron Holmes, “Facebook knows what you’re doing on other sites and in real life. This tool lets you see what it knows about you.”, Business Insider, Mar. 17, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-clear-history-offline-activity-tracker-tool-how-to-use-2020-1

[3] Shoshana Wodinsky, “Google Drive is about to hit 1 billion users”, The Verge, Jul. 25, 2018, https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/25/17613442/google-drive-one-billion-users

Should Privacy be a Human Right?

With the advancements in the mass surveillance technology used by governments and corporations, maintaining individual privacy has never been more important. AXEL believes privacy is a fundamental human right that these powerful institutions need to acknowledge. Without a vigorous defense of this position, influential organizations will inevitably erode privacy protections and lead society down a dark, Orwellian path.

Privacy law – not a new thing

Citizens demanding basic privacy is not a new phenomenon. Formal privacy law goes all the way back to 1361 AD in England[1]. Nevermind modern accouterments like cellphones, back then niceties such as plumbing and an easily traversable road system weren’t fathomable. It was the time of King Edward the III, with England and France engaged in what was to be known as ‘The 100 Years War.’ In other words, a LONG time ago.

The Justices of the Peace Act outlawed peeping toms and eavesdroppers under the penalty of imprisonment. It was a way to stop the town weirdo from spying on neighbors from behind a cow or haycart.

Today these concerns seem quaint, as every computer, cellphone, smartwatch, digital assistant, or any other piece of internet-connected technology is the equivalent of an eavesdropping creep. On the plus side, medicine advanced past the practice of bloodletting as a cure-all. So, we’ve got that going for us.

A decree from the United Nations

Fast-forward over half a millennium to 1948. The newly-formed international coalition, the United Nations, released the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights[2]. This short document outlined various human rights for all people. Article 12 states, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to attack upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to  the protection of the law against such interference or attack.”

While these UN guidelines are clear and concise, they lacked any true enforcement capabilities. Fantastic ideals in theory; often ignored in practice.

United States privacy law history

Unfortunately, The United States Constitution doesn’t explicitly guarantee privacy as a right. However, not all is lost. Throughout the years, there have been legal arguments that other liberties imply privacy rights. Examples include:

  • Stanford Law Review April 2010. A piece in the prestigious legal journal by Orin Kerr outlined an argument that sought to apply the Fourth Amendment to internet privacy[3]. The focus is on police-related intrusions, specifically dealing with warrant requirements for digital surveillance.
  • Griswold v. Connecticut. This 1965 case set the precedent that the Constitution grants privacy rights against government intrusion implicitly from other liberties established in the Bill of Rights[4]. While the case pertained to marital relations, the ruling set a precedent for the more general concept of implicit rights.

The current state of privacy

Two-thirds of countries have privacy regulations on the books[5]. So, everything’s all good, right? Time for privacy advocates to pack it up and celebrate their victory! No, things are not all rainbows and sunshine in this space. In fact, the situation is pretty bad.

Government privacy intrusions

The U.S. government spying on its citizens is nothing new. The practice dates back at least 70 years. Over this time, many groups (political activists, civil rights leaders, union participants, the far-Left, the far-Right, you name it) became surveillance targets of federal agencies like the FBI, CIA, and NSA. However, the devastating 9/11 attacks combined with advancing digital technology created a perfect storm for privacy intrusion at a scale never before seen.

The details of which were outlined by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013[6]. Here are a few significant revelations of the leaks:

  • The NSA collected millions of peoples’ cellphone metadata (i.e., when calls are made/to whom) and location information[7]. A federal appeals court finally ruled this tactic illegal in 2020[8].
  • The NSA can easily break internet standard encryption methods to view private emails, financial transactions, and other personal data[9].
  • The NSA implemented a program code-named PRISM where the Big Tech companies would mine user data and turn it over to the agency upon request[10].

These only scratch the surface of the Snowden leaks. The story received enormous press coverage over the years, putting pressure on the federal agencies for more transparency. It is naive to think organizations like the NSA stopped using these tactics, though. After all, the courts didn’t ban illegal phone metadata collection until seven years after initial disclosure, after multiple other scandals[11].

Corporate intrusions

Of course, the government doesn’t have a monopoly on invading peoples’ privacy. Corporations are big players in the game, too (although, as seen in the PRISM program, the two entities can work together.)

Big Tech has a notorious reputation in this regard. Companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon collect so much personal data that their algorithms probably know people better than they know themselves.

The most known scandal involved Cambridge Analytica, a Big Data firm that bought user data from Facebook and used it to serve targeted political ads, allegedly resulting in a shift toward Donald Trump’s election[12].

Regardless of that hypothesis’s validity, data mining and selling are an everyday occurrence in Big Tech’s world. All one has to do is read the privacy policies or terms of service agreements the companies provide to get a glimpse at the breadth of knowledge they have about individuals. Easier said than done since those policies are thousands of words of legalese, but decipher them, and it becomes quite creepy.

Tougher legislation

Data privacy and protection are now mainstream topics. As such, some governments are enacting stronger legislation. The Gold Standard of these laws is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. It is the most comprehensive data privacy law to date.

California took the main framework of the GDPR and passed a similar law called the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which will take a few years to implement fully. While these are the best laws currently in effect, they still have loopholes that will undoubtedly lead to exploitation. Do they go far enough to protect everyone’s personal information? Only time will tell.

Be proactive

The GDPR and CPRA are much needed, but people should take matters into their own hands as well. Stop relying on “free” software from the megacorporations and search for privacy-based alternatives.

AXEL Go is the perfect solution for anyone looking for a private, secure file-sharing and storage platform. It has blockchain implementation, runs on the un-censorable InterPlanetary File System, and utilizes military-spec AES 256-bit encryption to ensure your files aren’t compromised. Sign up for a free Basic account and receive 2GB of online storage and enough network fuel for hundreds of typical shares. AXEL truly believes privacy is an inalienable human right. That’s why AXEL Go has industry-leading privacy features that will only get better. Download it today.

 

 

 

[1] English Parliament, “Justices of the Peace Act 1361”, legislation.gov.uk, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw3/34/1

[2] The United Nations, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, un.org, 1948, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/#:~:text=Article%2012.,against%20such%20interference%20or%20attacks

[3] Kerr, Orin S. “Applying the Fourth Amendment to the Internet: A General Approach.” Stanford Law Review 62, no. 4 (2010): 1005-049. Accessed February 24, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40649623

[4] “Griswold v. Connecticut.” Oyez. Accessed February 24, 2021. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1964/496

[5] “Data Protection and Privacy Legislation Worldwide”, UNCTAD, Feb. 4, 2020, https://unctad.org/page/data-protection-and-privacy-legislation-worldwide

[6] Glen Greenwald, “Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations”, The Guardian, June 9, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance

[7] Barton Gellman, Ashkan Soltani, “NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show”, The Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations-worldwide-snowden-documents-show/2013/12/04/5492873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

[8] Josh Gerstein, “Court rules NSA phone snooping illegal -after 7-year delay”, Politico, Sept. 2, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/02/court-rules-nsa-phone-snooping-illegal-407727

[9] Joseph Menn, “New Snowden documents say NSA can break common Internet encryption”, Reuters, Sept. 5, 2016, https://www.reuters.com/article/net-us-usa-security-snowden-encryption/new-snowden-documents-say-nsa-can-break-common-internet-encryption-idUSBRE98413720130905

[10] Barton Gellman, Laura Poitras, “U.S., British intelligence mining data from nin U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program”, The Washington Post, June 7, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html

[11] Zack Whittaker, “NSA improperly collected Americans’ phone records for a second time, documents reveal”, Tech Crunch, June 26, 2019, https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/26/nsa-improper-phone-records-collection/

[12] Dan Patterson, “Facebook data privacy scandal: A cheat sheet”, Tech Republic, July 30, 2020, https://www.techrepublic.com/article/facebook-data-privacy-scandal-a-cheat-sheet/