What if Data breaches are tackled, and control over data in a HIMS(Health Information management system) app, data security, and data sharing is ensured in a HIMS app built with web5?

There have been like 3 webs(web1.0, web2.0, web3.0), and now we have web5 which brings with it, DID(Decentralized Identifiers) and DWN(Decentralized web nodes). Let's talk about what web5.0 is, and a brief description of DWN and DID before we deeply dive into its relationship with this HIMS app.

What's Web 5.0?

Web 5.0 is an extra decentralized web that ensures users control their data and security. This is a feature the other webs(1.0, 2.0, 3.0) are not capable of.

What's a DID(decentralized Identifier)?

It's a unique Identifier that represents an Individual or entity on the decentralized web, they are designed to be Independent of any centralized authority or organization giving users control over their data. An analogy is a digital passport that an Individual owns, rather than one that's issued by someone else(government authority), users can use the digital passport however they like and it expires when they want it to expire. That "control" is the aim of DID.

What's a DWN(decentralized web node)?

This is also about "control". It's a personal data store that allows users to own and control their data, it tackles data breaches and ensures privacy over users' data. An analogy is the way we don't have access to our data on Twitter, an Influencer who has millions of followers, uses his accounts to promote big brands but gets his accounts deleted by Twitter, loses his followers, and probably loses all of his promotions, he needs to open a new account. This is why DWN is here for us, with DWN, even if Twitter decides to stop operation, users will still have access to his promotion tweets.

This takes us to the question of "How might DID AND DWN of Web 5.0 tackle the challenges faced by a HIMS app user?".

Decentralized Identifiers to the Rescue of Mr Solomon(A user of a HIMS app).

Mr Solomon uses this HIMS to keep track of his medical records, he's a cancer patient, who has been trying to manage his disease for over 5years, he is like a nomad that can move cities in a year, he uses this app to help secure his data, help keep track of his drugs and other related health records from any hospital he's visited, this will help his new doctors to easily access his records without calling his initial doctor. However, there's a problem, the Engineers of this app are selling the medical records of patients to some other persons and this is a breach of privacy by the organization.

Here comes Abdulrahman, a Backend engineer of a HIMS app that uses web5.0 technology(DID), he approaches MR. Solomon and explained to him how he as the backend Engineer does not even have access to his data. Mr Solomon started using this web5.0-enabled HIMS app and he could control his health records, with no fear of data breach or any other related Privacy issues.

DWN(Decentralized Web nodes) to the rescue of Shannon's mother.

I was watching a medical series movie(GOOD DOCTOR). So, there was a scenario, where Shannon's mother was brought to the hospital, her vitals went flat and the doctors were confused, there was a sound in her heart. This brings us to the question "What's the problem?", Shannon's mother has a mechanical heart and the hard thing is, she did this in Beijing, China. Now, she's about to die and the doctors need to operate on her mechanical heart, no medical history until they reach out to the doctor in Beijing and she could die before the records get to them. So, I thought after some time at this Hackathon that "With DWN, Shannon's mother will not have a problem accessing her stored medical records from 20 years ago", she will have access to it, and can control who will access it.

Conclusion

This article is aimed at elucidating what DID and DWN are, and how they both relate to a real-life product or scenario, new technologies emerge to solve a problem not to just make it look fashionable, while there might be flaws, but it's definitely an upgrade on the past technologies, companies can't sell data of users anymore, users do not have to fear on breach on their privacy and that "control" is given to them.

This is a significant upgrade to the healthcare sector as a whole and a way to better the lives of our patients. That is, DID and DWN from our understanding now, we should know they are our savior the same way they saved MR. Solomon and Shannon's mother lives.

DID and DWN: a case study for a health Information management system app.