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revise privacy discussion
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mnot committed May 22, 2022
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Expand Up @@ -373,7 +373,9 @@ However, preventing concentration and platform centralization is much more diffi

Therefore, committing significant resources to scrutinizing protocols for latent centralization risk -- especially for concentration and platform risks -- is unlikely to be effective in preventing Internet centralization. Almost all existing Internet protocols -- including IP, TCP, HTTP, and DNS -- suffer some form of concentration or platform centralization. Refusing to standardize a newer protocol because it faces similar risks would not be equitable, proportionate, or effective.

When we do find centralization risk, we should consider its relationship with other goals, such as privacy. While there is rarely a pure tradeoff between two abstract goals such as these, when it surfaces attention should be paid to how effective architectural regulation (such as a standards effort) is in achieving each goal. In this example, a technical mechanism might be much more effective at improving privacy, whereas centralization might be better controlled by other regulators -- leading to the conclusion that the standards effort should focus on privacy.
When we do find centralization risk, we should consider its relationship with other architectural goals as we consider how to address it. In particular, attention should be paid to how effective standards (as a form of architectural regulation) is in achieving each goal.

For example, privacy is often more effectively ensured by ex ante technical constraints, as compared to ex post legal regulation. Conversely (as discussed) some kinds of centralization are likely better addressed through legal regulation. Thus, as a first order concern, a standards effort balancing these concerns might focus primarily on privacy. However it is often the case that these are not completely separable goals -- concentration can result in one or a few entities having greater volume and variety of data available exclusively to them, raising significant privacy and security concerns.


## Decentralize Proprietary Functions {#up}
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