Leading Republican Politician Kevin McCarthy Touts Blockchain Privacy

It seems that the regulators are not convinced enough to adapt to the fast-changing and rapid world of technology, those concerned about maintaining their online privacy should consider using to decentralized technology, said a leading Republican politician.

In an op-ed in the New York Times on Sunday, U.S. House of Representatives minority leader Kevin McCarthy made out a statement saying that it’s clear governments and regulators are not able to effectively protect citizens’ from platforms like Facebook and Google “exploiting and selling our data.”

There are already some laws in place in the U.S., at least laws that consider punishing those that read others’ post or healthcare records, he said, So why should online privacy of the country’s citizen be treated differently?

It should not be treated differently according to McCarthy. However, we should not expect the government to single-handedly and effectively do the job for us.

Seemingly simple “brute” solutions like breaking up tech giants into smaller entities, as some politicians have proposed, may not actually end up increasing data security, he said. An Invasive regulation, meanwhile, may play an effective role in the protection of the bigger incumbents, while shutting out smaller firms.

Instead, the minority leader argued that a solution may lie in the free market, and decentralized “cryptonetworks.”

The problem with most of the current web platforms is that private data of the user is controlled by the platform and users are opened up to “privacy invasions,” McCarthy said. Whereas with a decentralized network, user data is encrypted on blockchains, enabling users to control access to their information and removing the need to trust third parties.

According to McCarthy, blockchain technology has the ability to deliver stronger data security, portability and privacy for the everyday user.

As an added benefit, the open-source nature of many blockchains makes it easy for communities to create new networks if they feel the current system fails to provide adequate protections, thus competition gets a boost, McCarthy concluded.