As the internet has developed to today, data has become the most valuable resource of the new era. The problem is, your data, my data, everyone's data, are ultimately controlled by a few platforms. Users have no say over their own information, let alone profit from it.

Is it possible to change this situation? Decentralized storage protocols offer a new approach. Through programmable storage and smart contract mechanisms, users can truly own their data. How exactly does it work?

First is the issue of data sovereignty. Users encrypt their data and store it on decentralized networks, setting access permissions and distribution rules themselves—who can view, for how long, and how much they need to pay to access it—all decided by the user. No more platform middlemen profiting from the data.

Next is value realization. Everyone knows how valuable user behavior data is; enterprises and institutions want it. Now, users can upload anonymized private data, and companies needing the data must pay tokens, with the earnings directly going into the user's pocket. Data shifts from being passively collected to an active asset.

This mechanism is especially interesting in the medical field. Patients' health data has huge research value, but privacy protection requirements are also very strict. Through decentralized solutions, patients can anonymously store health information, and research institutions can obtain usage rights under ethical standards, paying each time they access the data. This protects privacy while advancing medical progress.

Sharing scientific research data is also a pain point. Scientific studies need to be reproducible and verifiable, so raw data must be public. But who guarantees that the data hasn't been tampered with? Decentralized storage naturally provides tamper-proof features. Peer review can directly verify data integrity through smart contracts, making it transparent and secure.

From data monopoly to data sovereignty returning to users, this is not just a technological upgrade but a redistribution of the entire data economy.