Principles Aren't Just Words In An "About Us" Page
Words while often magical are nothing without action. Our principles define how we act as a business. This is a living document - hold us accountable, and help us make it better.
We all have principles. A lot of the time we choose when to apply them, or try our best to adhere to them and if we’re particularly smart we reassess them (regularly) to test the current relevance.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a principle as:
“A basic idea or rule that explains or controls how something happens or works.”
When we started OPENFORMAT the big philosophical ideas that brought us together as a community can be summarised as four key notions and a quote from ER Schumacher:
Privacy
Respect
Inclusivity
Optimism
"Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology
toward the organic, the gentle, the elegant and beautiful."
Ernst F. Schumacher
These basic ideas are the core of how we want to “govern” our decision making, and our internal and external interactions. The digital world has grown exponentially in just a few decades and learning from the mistakes (and of course successes) is imperative for the emotional, physical, and intellectual prosperity of people all over the world.
With that, let’s explore our principles in a little more depth. This is where we are currently; we will update, we will add, we will listen - this is an organic process.
It’s worth bearing in mind that our energy goes into “trying our best” to adhere to these principles - we’re not always going to get it right; we’re still just domesticated primates after all 🌞
Privacy
People Tracking
We will not track a user unless there is something in it for them to balance out the equation.
The Web2 revolution has been built on advertising, and monetisation of people and their personal data. Anything that appears free to the user has more often than not turned them and their data into a commodity.
Example: As a business we need a good idea of what works and what doesn’t and how we are progressing in all areas of the business. When a user completes an action in the OPENFORMAT ecosystem they will be rewarded. The user has done a thing, we’ve recorded transparently they’ve done a thing and we then reward them (publicly) for doing the thing.
We will not store a persons details without giving them the option to be anonymous.
The WWW is full of huge databases of user data from simple personal data such as name and email address, to very personal full health records. Even a cursory view at what’s available on the Dark Web will show that there’s no system currently secure enough to hold personal data. With the scraping of encrypted data (ready for quantum decryption) no centrally stored data is safe.
Example: As OPENFORMAT is as focused on Web2 developers as it is Web3, we need to ensure that we make it easy for users not familiar with Wallets and the like (for anonymous access), so we offer them an option for a Web2 email based authentication. We ensure that the user knows exactly what data we’re storing, where it’s being stored, and how: E.g. Full name, Email address, Password, date registered; Postgres, AWS.
Respect
Seeking forgiveness rather than permission
Slow down. We will assess the societal impact of our technology before we release it to the world.
Web2 grew fast, a huge amount of money pumped quickly into ideas that were taken to market before their impact had been assessed. We now see a generation fuelled by mental health issues many ascribe to doom scrolling, social conformism, and addiction to small form factor screens. And now AI…
Example: We have built a poc of an NFP (an AI based non fungible personality system). Is this the future we want just because we can?
Inclusivity
Techno Colonialism
We will not use technology as a way to separate people or force people to give over their data.
Increasingly (even small) businesses ask customers to join WhatsApp (or whatever) for more information or guidance and offer no alternative. Many of us receive on a daily basis emails that ask us to go to a 3rd party to enter our details for a meeting. The digital divide is real.
Example: We will ensure that all of our code is open source and doesn’t exclude people geographically, ethnically, culturally, or financially.
Economic profit is not just for the few. We will not put profit before people or the planet.
The flow of capital to a tiny proportion of society has redistributed wealth on a never before seen scale. The 1% is now the 0.001%
Example: OPENFORMAT has a “social conscience layer” that trustlessly slices and distributes (our) profits in real-time to the “many”.
Decentralisation is at the heart of everything we do.
Decentralisation isn’t just about technology; it’s about hierarchies, controlled organisation, and protection of secrets. Web2 platforms are mostly controlled by a few big tech companies, leading to monopolies and a concentration of power.
The idea of “cottage industry” with a mass of individual businesses combining together to create the organisations of tomorrow, we believe is the future of work. Many are calling this the “solopreneur” movement and the birth of the “stack” as the team.
Example: OPENFORMAT allows the creation of decentralised applications that encourage digital manufacturing and ownership with the rights holder always in control (rather than the marketplace).
Optimism
Imagine a better future
The words we put out into the world must be laced with intent and positivity.
The way that we think shapes the future. If we only see dystopian possibilities then that is what unfolds. By constantly imagining a better way, no matter how far fetched, or idealistic, we can not only have a positive impact on our current progress but also influence the generations that follow. We can create ripples through our positive words and actions that reverberate way beyond our immediate setting.
Example: Imagine your own examples… 🌞