Glad to see a mention to Opera Unite. I found it to be a really revolutionary idea, anyone could have a simple static website running in their browser with zero tech knowledge needed. I think the world would have been better if that idea succeeded as a way for people to share their content, rather than the highly monetized and manipulative social networks.

The problem isnt technical feasibility it is market incentives.

Most companies have no incentive to let you hold your data when they can just hold it for you.

If they do this they can mine it for data to improve their product as well as sell or otherwise indirectly profit from it. And, it's easier.

Also, while the market for privacy focused products isnt nothing, the number of people willing to pay a lot extra to compensate for the missed opportunities companies get by collecting your data is, i think, smaller than many people imagine. Which is sad.

I think the only way it will grow to an appreciable size is by seeing up close and personal what a really vicious stasi-like secret police does with dragnet surveillance and come out the other side, with scars. I believe we've only seen a small taste of this.

If this takes off I fear big tech very quickly finding friends among those pushing for things like chat control, while potentially reevaluating some of its more consumer friendly "views" towards privacy. Very easy to undermine something when you start speaking of its potential to facilitate CSAM.

The fact that the AT Protocol relies on everyone having a domain name, which is a centralized system over which few people have control, and about whose workings most people have no clue about, is problematic. Also impractical, once we consider that - as far as I can understand - 8 billion people should have their own domain name.

How do I post a message on Discord/Twitter/Instagram from my personal data storage? If this is not supported, this idea is born-dead. Very few will use it, for the regular person the conversation goes like this:

- Who can see my personal data storage posts? Can someone with Twitter see them?

- No, but you'll own your data

- Bye

So maybe start with something which backs-up what you post on Twitter/Instagram/Discord to your personal data storage through APIs/data export.... This has no downside if it's easy to "activate"

Who has an incentive to provide a Solid server? Not big social media companies, who want the personal information that Solid attempts to withhold. I don't think anyone is prepared to offer a convenient, high quality Solid-based social media experience to everyone for free, because that costs a lot of money. And if you know anything about human nature, it will have to be convenient and completely free in order to have a chance of capturing any mindshare outside of weird tech nerd circles.

> the platforms should be asking us what kinds of data they may copy from our servers, and only with strictly temporary allowances.

Until practical homomorphic encryption arrives, I don't see how this temporariness can be enforced. If we rely on promises or regulation instead of the technical ability to enforce this, how is that any better than today's social media companies promising not to do anything bad with the data they have on us?

It was an idea that never went away. Many people have wanted to self host everything. Sadly companies have found it easier to centralise, and then as a bonus can monetise that data.