IBM Files Patent For A Blockchain-Based Web Browser

IBM might have missed the bus of personal computing in 1970s, but it’s doing everything to ensure that it doesn’t miss the bus of blockchain. After launching a whole lot of enterprise blockchain related solutions now company has applied for the patent of a blockchain-based web browser.That’s right. The patent was filed with US Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 6^th of August, and it describes a web browser backed by a peer-to-peer network. The browser works by collecting pre-specified information from web browsing sessions. The collected information will be put on a peer-to-peer network of nodes, and the type of information collected will vary depending on the type of user. That means the information collected from a work computer may differ from the information collected on a personal computer. Some types of information that may be collected includes: browsing history, geolocation, plugins installed, task performance and security patches installed. The idea of putting user information on a blockchain, according to IBM, is to provide users control over their data and privacy. According to the company, its blockchain-based browser “affords a system for storing browsing information such that privacy is preserved and places privacy in the ‘hands of a user’ rather than a third party.”Interestingly, the patent also describes the role of a token in this browser. It says that the tokens will verify the browser sessions of users as they’re packaged into blocks for p2p network.IBM is, however, not the first company to come up with such a project. Opera has already included blockchain and crypto-related functionality in its browsers from quite some time, and Opera Touch browser for iOS comes with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet. Clearly, that thing is more advanced than the browser being patented by IBM, at least at the moment.