Yasmita Kumar

Smartphone technology has gone far beyond our expectations. Its evolution has seen it transform into brightly coloured touch screens with connective capabilities. Still, in the process of reinvention, tech giants are continually changing the smartphone landscape. This is precisely the type of technology presented at CES2020, which included foldable smartphones housing screens as thin as human hair. Although this new tech is excellent and shows promise for an imaginative future tuning to reality, we can’t ignore some fundamental factors that are essential for moving forward. Security and privacy are two key components that need to be considered when launching a new smartphone. Our always-on, always-connected devices are bait for potential threats that can cause mass amounts of damage. Most of what we do is now in the public domain and is monitored by third-parties who store and use our personal and organisational data to identify patterns, trends, preferences and activities, which they rely on. Increased technology has made it easier to link data back to individuals. For this reason, the smartphone industry is turning to blockchain technology. Blockchain technology has the potential to limit the impact in breach of privacy while still giving us the ability to release personal information when it is useful. As an example, users could store personal information on a blockchain and only release parts of it temporarily to receive services. The boom in digital currencies which use blockchain technology is what gives hope to blockchain technology being used for privacy on smartphones. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have demonstrated that trusted and transparent computing is possible by using a peer to peer decentralized network and a public ledger. Hence blockchain-enabled systems could help put users back in charge of their own data. The nature of blockchain technology is why smartphones are turning to it. Its ability to work and be secure makes it the dream. The technology has multiple uses in a smartphone and will enable users to carry out different tasks. Its most apparent application on a smartphone is for digital currency, but it can also be great to use for smartphone apps as it provides an unaltered database that makes the mobile apps securer than ever. In light of blockchain technology, we have seen in the recent past, several blockchain smartphones launched by organizations like Samsung. Blockchain smartphones offer some significant advantages over regular phones. They are more secure because they provide additional security primarily through the built-in hardware wallet that is a common feature on most blockchain smartphones from Smartphone Checker. The wallet behaves like an offline safe where digital information can be stored on your phone without the risk of this information being accessed by online users. It can hold various types of information and then provide them to the user as and when needed. Having the ability to store a range of different information like passwords and credit card numbers, the technology can, in the long run, help to cure issues such as endless data breaches on a mass scale. Blockchain technology can also be great for smartphone security by offering data transparency. It will allow users to put their data on a decentralised system which everyone on the network will have access to in real-time. The nature of blockchain means it is not possible to alter the original data without it being noticed, which is what makes the data so secure and transparent. Over time this will eventually eradicate the middle man. Blockchain technology will also get rid of passwords which are usually used for authentication and will help ensure identity protection. Currently, and as mentioned above, there are many blockchain smartphones available on the market. Samsungs Galaxy S10 is possibly the most powerful one yet and that too with an appealing price tag in comparison to its competition. Of course, there are some models like HTC Exodus and Sirin Labs FINNEY which are more native to blockchain then the S10 which means, in comparison, it may have some additional features. With all of this in mind its no wonder the smartphone industry is looking towards blockchain for its future. Hackers and cyber threats are a constant threat not only to large institutions or corporations but to us all. Delicate and essential data such as personal and health data is always at risk of being snatched from us. However, blockchain technology implemented on smartphones without cryptocurrency use could see our worries vanish into thin air. Another attraction for the smartphone industry turning to blockchain technology is because of the extensive amount of cryptocurrency users. The boom in the digital currency market has automatically brought about a change in the smartphone world, and that is evident from the tech that is available today. But, not everyone is interested in dealing with digital currencies which is why its implementation at a more consumer-level could be the next big thing to change smartphones as we know them today.

Yasmita Kumar

Prioritising Privacy: Why the Smartphone Industry Is Turning To Blockchain