In Spring 2024, OpenArchive joined forces with Hypha Worker Co-operative and Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web to co-develop the first secure, usable Decentralized Web (DWeb) storage backend for mobile. OpenArchive’s mobile application Save (Secure, Archive, Verify, Encrypt) now offers a decentralized peer-to-peer backend called “Raven” in addition to other backend storage options—such as Internet Archive and Nextcloud—for preserving mobile media. This novel integration offers users a more robust, distributed, verifiable, and secure way to archive media.

With support from Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW), the OpenArchive team is creating a highly usable and accessible front-end, which connects to the work Hypha is doing to build the DWeb storage component, which offers novel verification and privacy features as part of the decentralized and peer-to-peer storage backend. This innovative approach will be documented in a forthcoming research paper, available soon! Please subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

FFDW is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with the mission of preserving humanity’s most important information.

OpenArchive is a non-profit that develops intuitive privacy-first mobile archiving tools to protect people and their media.

Hypha is a worker-owned cooperative and technical consultancy, partnering with organizations who seek out its deep knowledge and expertise in cryptography, decentralized governance, web protocols, and distributed ledger technologies.

Decentralized Web Storage - A Community-Based Alternative

For many, entrusting Big Tech — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google — with sensitive data is a risky bet. These extractive tech giants operate under the shadow of governmental surveillance and legal coercion, which puts the privacy of users and the safety of data in jeopardy. In environments where censorship and data integrity are concerns, decentralized alternatives offer a shield against these vulnerabilities, ensuring that sensitive data remains secure, anonymous, and resilient. Save has created one such shield through its introduction of a decentralized backend. This new option combines the Veilid and Iroh protocols to create a secure, peer-to-peer backend that allows users to conveniently save and share items securely on the decentralized web (DWeb). This could be particularly beneficial for archivists who face censorship or work in conflict zones, as it ensures privacy, anonymity, and resilience against data tampering or destruction. In this approach, rather than data being uploaded to a central server or repository, it’s encrypted and stored amongst a group of peers (i.e. users in the network) and shared between peers using secure tunnels. This builds resiliency and redundancy into the network, so even if one peer is taken offline, the others can compensate without data loss or compromise. Decentralized and peer-to-peer applications have a host of uses and applicability for users who require anonymity and privacy, but using these tools often requires deep technical expertise. The Save DWeb backend offers a user-friendly approach to engaging with decentralized protocols.

Along with integrating DWeb storage options into Save, OpenArchive will publish a complementary research paper on the development process, including recommendations for the needed privacy and usability work to ensure these options meet the needs of at-risk communities. This research will explore how a DWeb backend can support community control of collections, preserve data as evidence, circumvent content takedowns/censorship, and verify and protect sensitive information. In environments that prioritize data integrity, authenticity and security, decentralized alternatives can provide archives with community-based infrastructure, help them transition away from big tech, and assist with the secure storage of human rights data for the long haul. Our work also includes some emergent threats and challenges of decentralized storage.

Our aim is that, by incorporating privacy and usability safeguards to protect at-risk users, everyone is protected downstream. Aligned with the DWeb Principle that “our efforts to build a more just and equitable world are interdependent,” this collaboration is about building secure tools and inspiring others to do the same.