Quick take:
- Nym will serve as the lead advocate for the Switzerland-headquartered alliance.
- The Universal Privacy Alliance (UPA) advocates for preserving privacy rights in digital landscapes.
- The first order of business focuses on the challenges created by the EU’s eIDAS and the Digital Services Act.
Web3 companies Nym, Protocol Labs, Filecoin Foundation, Oasis, and Aztec have formed a consortium dubbed the Universal Privacy Alliance (UPA) to drum up a campaign for digital rights.
The coalition comprising digital privacy-focused entities is joining forces to launch the world’s first trade association committed to safeguarding digital privacy rights. Nym is headquartered in Switzerland and Nym will lead its campaign as it looks to address regulatory challenges facing Web3 companies.
According to the announcement on Tuesday, the first order of business will be to focus on the EU’s eIDAS and the Digital Services Act, which have challenged end-to-end encryption and business model innovation in Web3, VentureBeat reported.
The UPA’s advocacy is looking to realise the United Nations’ declaration that digital privacy is a basic human right by championing privacy as a fundamental human right in the digital space under UN principles.
Emphasising the importance of prioritising privacy in online platforms, Harry Halpin a representative of Nym and founding member of UPA said in a statement: The Universal Privacy Alliance gives those of us building privacy-centric technologies a unified voice to advocate for policy reforms that protect the security, anonymity, and informed consent on the internet.”
UPA is building its campaign around the “privacy by design” phrase, which emphasises that digital platforms should be built with privacy and security as default settings. The alliance is campaigning for an online space where interactions are “free of incessant surveillance, exploitation, or commercialization.”
Will Scott, another founding member, commented: “Our formalization as the Unified Privacy Alliance signifies our joint commitment to championing privacy rights in an increasingly digitized world. With a united voice, we aim to educate policymakers, empower smaller organizations, and advocate for user-centric privacy practices in technology.”
Although the organisation launched with an inaugural $150,000 from founding members, UPA is exploring accessible membership fees for smaller organizations. Current members contributed $15,000 in initial investment.
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