Privacy-Centric DApps Face Crisis After Australia Proposes Anti-Privacy Bill

A proposed bill in the Australia parliament is stifling the citizens' right to privacy.

If passed, Australian citizens could lose their online privacy.

For blockchain enthusiasts, investors, proponents, and developers, the move can spell significant damage for the technology's most prized feature: Privacy.

Attempting to create a dApp without the blockchain is comparable to accessing a website without connection to the internet.

Since their introduction, dApps have provided a strong narrative for propelling user privacy while interacting with a global network of people-as aspect not wholly-possible in current mechanisms.

For the everyday person, a dApp will be the primary method of interacting with the blockchain, which is said to lead the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and surpass the internet in terms of usage.

Based on the proposed bill, it remains unclear how dApps would be accommodated keeping their USP in mind.

Australia has been experimenting with blockchain technology in recent times-partnering with other economies to conduct cross-ocean shipping and even issuing billion-dollar bonds-making it clear the government understands the technology and its myriad benefits in depth.

As of today, the global market has approximately 1,945 active dApps with 12,900 daily users, as per data collated by tracking website State of dApps.

With the law's introduction, several questions come to mind: Would all application participants violate the law by using a privacy-focussed dApp? Are dApps unlawful? Can dApps be legalized with only if a centralized body if governing the system and exercising majority consensus?