The makers of the user-centric browser explain how the EU's privacy regulations fit with their principles – and why the US should hurry up and adopt its own version.
JavaScript creator Brendan Eich's Brave browser is "on a mission to fix the web." En route to this, Brave has this week written directly to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the US Department of Commerce, calling for a US equivalent to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The letter[1], penned by Brave's chief policy & industry relations officer, Dr Johnny Ryan, came in response to an invitation to comment on the ever-growing issue of consumer online privacy. Ryan's letter follows one written by Eich[2] to the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in September.
In the letter, Ryan recommends the introduction of a federal law that draws upon the EU's newly introduced GDPR and adopts its protective approach to new market entrants. It also recommends that the US build upon similar standards to the GDPR to maintain its global leadership. The GDPR[3], in brief, seeks to regulate how companies can use their customers' data.
The letter agrees with GDPR concepts of "data controllers" and "data processors," roles that entities entrusted with users' personal information must clearly have, and who must follow and implement set rules in order to comply with GDPR or similar legislation.
Brave, with its Ethereum-based Basic Attention Token (BAT), is very much a part of the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. Yet many believe GDPR and blockchain technology are not compatible due to the latter's immutability.
The EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum recently outlined[4] the tensions between GDPR and blockchain technology whilst also arguing there are "paths for reconciliation."
