Data haven
Encyclopedia
A data haven, like a corporate haven
or tax haven
, is a refuge
for uninterrupted or unregulated data
. Data havens are locations with legal environment
s that are friendly to the concept of a computer network
freely holding data and even protecting its content and associated information. They tend to fit into three categories: a physical locality
with weak information-system enforcement and extradition
laws, a physical locality with intentionally strong protections of data, and virtual
domains designed to secure data via technical means (such as encryption
) regardless of any legal environment.
TORs onion space
(hidden service), and HavenCo
(centralized), and Freenet
(decentralized) are three models of modern-day virtual data havens.
for users in countries where censorship
of the Internet
is practiced.
Other reasons can include:
While some advocates of data havens say that they should not be used to facilitate spam, terrorism
or child pornography
, others seek data havens for these very purposes.
Science fiction novelist William Gibson
used the term in his novels Count Zero
and Mona Lisa Overdrive
, as did Bruce Sterling in Islands in the Net
. The "modern-day" segments of Neal Stephenson
's 1999 novel Cryptonomicon
concern a small group of entrepreneurs attempting to create a data haven.
Corporate haven
A corporate haven is a jurisdiction with laws friendly to corporationsthereby encouraging them to choose that jurisdiction as a legal domicile.- History :...
or tax haven
Tax haven
A tax haven is a state or a country or territory where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all while offering due process, good governance and a low corruption rate....
, is a refuge
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
for uninterrupted or unregulated data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
. Data havens are locations with legal environment
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s that are friendly to the concept of a computer network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
freely holding data and even protecting its content and associated information. They tend to fit into three categories: a physical locality
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
with weak information-system enforcement and extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
laws, a physical locality with intentionally strong protections of data, and virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
domains designed to secure data via technical means (such as encryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
) regardless of any legal environment.
TORs onion space
.onion
.onion is a pseudo-top-level domain host suffix designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network...
(hidden service), and HavenCo
HavenCo
HavenCo Limited was a data haven, data hosting services company, founded in 2000 which operated from Sealand, self-declared 'sovereign principality' that occupies a man-made former World War II defensive facility originally known as Roughs Tower located approximately six miles from the coast of...
(centralized), and Freenet
Freenet
Freenet is a decentralized, censorship-resistant distributed data store originally designed by Ian Clarke. According to Clarke, Freenet aims to provide freedom of speech through a peer-to-peer network with strong protection of anonymity; as part of supporting its users' freedom, Freenet is free and...
(decentralized) are three models of modern-day virtual data havens.
Purposes of data havens
Reasons for establishing data havens include access to free political speechFreedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
for users in countries where censorship
Internet censorship
Internet censorship is the control or suppression of the publishing of, or access to information on the Internet. It may be carried out by governments or by private organizations either at the behest of government or on their own initiative...
of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
is practiced.
Other reasons can include:
- WhistleblowingWhistleblowerA whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
- Distributing softwareComputer softwareComputer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
, data or speech that violates laws such as the DMCADigital Millennium Copyright ActThe Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to... - Copyright infringementCopyright infringementCopyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
- Circumventing data protection laws
- Online gamblingOnline gamblingOnline gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...
- PornographyPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
While some advocates of data havens say that they should not be used to facilitate spam, terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
or child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, others seek data havens for these very purposes.
History of the term
The 1978 report of the British government's Data Protection Committee expressed concern that different privacy standards in different countries would lead to the transfer of personal data to countries with weaker protections; it feared that Britain might become a "data haven." Also in 1978, Adrian Norman published a mock consulting study on the feasibility of setting up a company providing a wide range of data haven services, called "Project Goldfish."Science fiction novelist William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
used the term in his novels Count Zero
Count Zero
Count Zero is a science fiction novel written by William Gibson, originally published 1986. It is the second volume of the Sprawl trilogy, which begins with Neuromancer and concludes with Mona Lisa Overdrive, and is a canonical example of the cyberpunk sub-genre.Count Zero was serialized by Isaac...
and Mona Lisa Overdrive
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Mona Lisa Overdrive is a cyberpunk novel by William Gibson published in 1988 and the final novel of the Sprawl trilogy, following Neuromancer and Count Zero. It takes place eight years after the events of Count Zero and is set, as were its predecessors, in The Sprawl...
, as did Bruce Sterling in Islands in the Net
Islands in the Net
Islands in the Net, a 1988 science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1989, and was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards that same year.-Overview:...
. The "modern-day" segments of Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson
Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
's 1999 novel Cryptonomicon
Cryptonomicon
Cryptonomicon is a 1999 novel by American author Neal Stephenson. The novel follows the exploits of two groups of people in two different time periods, presented in alternating chapters...
concern a small group of entrepreneurs attempting to create a data haven.
See also
- AnonymityAnonymityAnonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
- Anonymous P2PAnonymous P2PAn anonymous P2P communication system is a peer-to-peer distributed application in which the nodes or participants are anonymous or pseudonymous...
- PseudonymityPseudonymityPseudonymity is a word derived from pseudonym, meaning 'false name', and anonymity, meaning unknown or undeclared source, describing a state of disguised identity. The pseudonym identifies a holder, that is, one or more human beings who possess but do not disclose their true names...
- Corporate havenCorporate havenA corporate haven is a jurisdiction with laws friendly to corporationsthereby encouraging them to choose that jurisdiction as a legal domicile.- History :...
- Crypto-anarchismCrypto-anarchismCrypto-anarchism expounds the use of strong public-key cryptography to bring about privacy and freedom. It was described by Vernor Vinge as a cyberspatial realization of anarchism. Crypto-anarchists aim to create cryptographic software that can be used to evade prosecution and harassment while...
- SealandPrincipality of SealandThe Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....
located in international waters in the North Sea - CyberBunkerCyberBunkerCyberBunker is a former military nuclear warfare bunker that is currently utilized as a data-center .During the Cold War, NATO maintained top secret hardened facilities all over western Europe. In 1955 a large command bunker was constructed just outside the small town of Kloetinge in the south of...
located on NATO ground in the Netherlands - PRQPRQPeRiQuito AB is a Swedish Internet service provider and web hosting company created in 2004.-Ownership:Based in Stockholm, PRQ is owned by Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, two founders of The Pirate Bay.- Business model :...
, an ISPInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
in Sweden - IPREDatorIPREDatorIpredator is a virtual private networking service offered by The Pirate Bay with the stated goal of providing internet privacy. It is a response to the introduction of IPRED in Sweden, which will allow copyright holders and law enforcement officials to request personal information about copyright...
located in Sweden - WikileaksWikileaksWikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
External links
- Icelandic Modern Media Initiative proposal to create a global safe haven for investigative journalism.