Hi everyone,
Like many of you, I have developed severe “data-slurp fatigue.” But beyond privacy concerns, I’ve come to realize it’s a massive architectural inefficiency: we are wasting storage and risking security through the aggressively growing duplication of our home addresses and emails across millions of servers just to complete basic digital actions.
As a counterweight to this, I formulated an architectural concept called UYC: Unknow Your Customer — the structural antithesis to ubiquitous KYC.
The core premise of UYC is that systems must be built so they physically cannot hold, see, or remember unnecessary personal data. Instead of hoarding information, architecture should naturally leverage cryptography and pseudonymization in scenarios where collecting, storing, or processing personal data is entirely unnecessary.
As a solo creator, I built Factflew (https://factflew.io/) specifically to test and prove that UYC is a viable foundation for a cleaner, independent web.
I’m bringing this to Lemmy to discuss the engineering reality of this approach:
- Is a UYC architecture viable at scale, or is the industry bound by too much engineering inertia when it comes to collecting data?
- How can we shift the developer mindset away from collecting everything “just in case”?
I am eager to hear your technical critique of the UYC principle and discuss whether we can build a leaner web. Cheers!
We have been conditioned to believe that in technology and business, knowing more is always better. More data, more metrics, more profiles.
UYC is built on the opposite truth: when it comes to redundant personal data, unknowing is better than knowing.
If a server physically doesn’t know a user’s home address or phone number, that data can never be leaked, hacked, or abused. In this architecture, ignorance isn’t a limitation—it’s the ultimate security feature and a massive engineering optimization.
I’d love to hear your thoughts: can this shift from “hoarding by default” to “intentional ignorance” actually work at scale?
It can not, at least here in the EU the governments are actively fighting the ability to make a purchase without leaving your full personal data set. KYC-free businesses exist but are increasingly regulated to be full-KYC.