IBM filed a new patent application for a blockchain-based web browser on August 6 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
According to the patent, the web browser collects information that is pre-specified from web browsing sessions and then this information is then transferred to a network of peer-to-peer nodes for collection and storage. Information collection will rely on the type of browsing experience chose, for example, A work computer and a personal browser would have different settings.
The information stored could include user web-history, bookmarks, task performance, geographical location, plugin installation, and security patches.
IBM’s blockchain web browser also has some competition from Norwegian web browser Opera who recently launched their iOS Opera Touch browser. The browser comes with support for Web 3.0 along with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet with hassle free support for Web 3.0 applications including Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens.
Breaking the barriers
IBM states:
A blockchain-based browser “affords a system for storing browsing information such that privacy is preserved and places privacy in the ‘hands of a user’ rather than a third party.”
Another potential use-case is the additional security benefits that comes with a blockchain backend. This makes it harder to breach compared to the existing client-server architecture.
IBM has also included a token in their model. The tokens will be used to verify a users browser session activities as they are packaged into blocks for the blockchain network.
One of the biggest problems that blockchain applications had been the lack of support from web browsers. For example, you need additional extensions like MetaMask to connect with blockchain-based applications. Hopefully with focus from companies like IBM, all of this will change for the better.
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