With autumn settling in and everyone back to their routines, we’re excited to share some updates from Index Network as we kick off a season of discovery.
A Protocol for Discovery with Index Network - BlueYard Livestream Highlights
Last week, there was a fantastic livestream with Chad Fowler from BlueYard on building a decentralized protocol for user-centric discovery. Here are some of the key takeaways:
Decentralizing Relevance: Unlocking New Dimensions
Relevance is multi-dimensional, and it's time to accept that one model cannot capture its full complexity. By decentralizing relevance, discovery can evolve beyond current limitations, addressing today’s bottlenecks.Autonomous Agents: A Game-Changer
Autonomous agents have the potential to improve discovery in unexpected areas—like finding cures in scientific research or rethinking dating apps, which are currently limited by rigid filters. These agents could remove biases and reshape entire industries.Intent-Based Discovery: The First Non-Financial Use Case
Intent is a human-centric graph that allows multiple autonomous agents to discover what users are looking for, what’s needed, and what sparks curiosity.Web3 Protocols: Discovering Information Through Semantics
Web3 is home to numerous protocols for identity, trust, reputation, and intent, all acting as semantic entities. By combining these elements, a more comprehensive, semantic-driven approach to decentralized discovery is enabled.
Watch the full video here.
Index App
We’re thrilled to share that we’ve been developing a mobile app centered around Contextual Privacy. This app enables users to discover each other through shared thoughts and contexts while maintaining privacy boundaries. It's like finding others on your wavelength without compromising your personal space.
While chatting with an AI agent, you can set contextual privacy settings to discover others discussing similar interests, even across different languages. Receive notifications for related interactions as they happen. The applications are limitless, from finding local tennis partners to connecting on niche scientific challenges.
We're inviting you to join and experience this new way of connecting. Try out the app, explore its capabilities, and share your thoughts—your feedback is invaluable as we continue shaping this social space. You can apply here.
The Inspiration Behind Contextual Privacy
Last week, we attended The 6th Annual Symposium on Applications of Contextual Integrity. The work of Helen Nissenbaum, who introduced the theory of "Contextual Integrity" has been a major inspiration for our approach to privacy. According to Nissenbaum, privacy is not just about controlling data or exposure; it’s about ensuring that information flows appropriately within its given context. Privacy is preserved when the flow of information follows context-specific norms—considering the type of data, the actors involved, and the purpose and conditions of sharing.
This concept has influenced our development of Contextual Privacy within our app, shaping how we think about discoverability, data flow, and user control.
That’s it for our September updates! We’re excited about what’s ahead and can’t wait to share more next month. As always, we’re happy to hear your feedback!