Merge pull request 'new blog added' (#1) from development into master

Reviewed-on: #1

content/blog/ydn_threefold/index.md

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+---
+id: ydn1_threefold
+title: "There’s a Version of the Internet Where You’re in Control"
+image_caption: ydn1_threefold
+description: Most of today’s digital world is built to track and control us. But there’s a new, user-owned alternative that puts your privacy and autonomy first.
+date: 2025-12-03
+taxonomies:
+  people: [bernadette_amanda_caster]
+  tags: [why,decentralization,community]
+  categories: [why,decentralization,community]
+extra:
+    imgPath: ydn1_threefold.png
+    isFeatured: true
+    
+---
+
+Most of our digital lives exist inside systems we don’t control. Our photos sit in corporate vaults, our communication runs through servers that scan and analyze them, and our devices demand accounts, tracking agreements, and permissions just to function. 
+
+<br/>
+
+The digital world has moved from empowering people to exploiting them. What looks like convenience now often hides data tracking, profiling, and growing dependence on big centralized platforms.
+
+<br/>
+
+But there is another way.
+
+<br/>
+
+We may own our phones and laptops, but the digital world they connect to isn’t really ours. Most hardware, operating systems, and online services are designed to extract as much personal data as possible, tracking what we do, storing it in corporate clouds, and locking us into their ecosystems. The alternative is a digital world where the infrastructure itself is built for user control, not surveillance, where you decide how your data moves, where it lives, and who has access.
+
+<br/>
+
+Reclaiming autonomy requires a full stack: sovereign devices, sovereign applications, and a decentralized network controlled by people, not corporations.
+
+<br/>
+
+One of the simplest ways to reclaim control is to use a privacy-focused smartphone like [OwnPhone](https://yourdata.network/ownphone/), which keeps your data on your device instead of sending it to corporate clouds. Paired with [Nextcloud](https://yourdata.network/nextcloud-cloud-storage/), an open-source personal cloud where you manage your own files and communications, everything stays securely stored on the [ThreeFold Grid](https://dashboard.grid.tf/). Together, they make true digital ownership practical and accessible from your device to your cloud to the network itself.
+
+### **Step 1: Owning Your Hardware**
+
+The OwnPhone is a privacy phone built for those who want technology that works for them, not against them. No forced accounts, no background profiling, no analytics engines quietly feeding corporate models. The operating system is open-source, lightweight, Google-free, and designed around personal autonomy.
+
+<br/>
+
+You choose what apps run, what permissions they receive, and where your data flows. Files can remain only on your device, or sync directly to your private cloud, without passing through Big Tech infrastructure. Nothing is extracted or observed without consent.
+
+<br/>
+
+Plus. Ownership does not stop at the phone. You can own your laptop, you can own your own node, you can choose the software you trust, and you can participate in the internet as a contributor rather than a product.
+
+<br/>
+
+OwnPhone treats ownership as a right, not a privilege.
+
+### **Step 2: Run your private cloud on your own device**
+
+Nextcloud delivers all the everyday features people rely on from services like Google Drive, iCloud, or OneDrive file storage, syncing, backups, document editing, video calls, calendars, contacts, and team collaboration, but without giving up privacy or control. It’s already trusted by tens of millions of users and thousands of organizations worldwide, including governments, universities, hospitals, and companies of all sizes. The experience feels familiar, but the architecture is fundamentally different: you stay in control of your data, not the platform.
+
+<br/>
+
+That same idea lies at the heart of Project Mycelium. The Mycelium Network forms the foundation, a decentralized IPv6 overlay that mirrors the adaptability and reach of biological mycelium. Through YourData Network, Nextcloud runs on the decentralized ThreeFold Grid instead of a corporate-owned data center. You choose the amount of storage you need: 200 GB, 400 GB, 1 TB, or more. Deployment and maintenance are taken care of fStep 3: How it comes togetheror you, while you keep full administrative control.
+
+<br/>
+
+It is a sovereign software layer operating on a decentralized internet. You control access, visibility, and permissions, and if you wish, you can even run your own node to host your cloud directly on your hardware. 
+
+### **Step 3: How it comes together**
+
+OwnPhone provides sovereign hardware. Nextcloud provides sovereign software. ThreeFold provides a sovereign network. Together, they form an end-to-end ownership stack where no single layer depends on corporate control.
+
+<br/>
+
+Nextcloud is preinstalled on OwnPhone and is also available through app stores such as Google Play, App Store, F-Droid, and Aurora. Most users simply receive a ready-to-use private Nextcloud cloud space deployed through ThreeFold partners with no technical setup required. 
+
+<br/>
+
+Daily interaction is intuitive. You log in to Nextcloud on your OwnPhone or computer, and your photos, files, contacts, and calendars sync privately and securely to your ThreeFold-powered cloud environment.
+
+<br/>
+
+The phone is also equipped with [Mycelium](https://www.projectmycelium.com/), a decentralized, end-to-end-encrypted IPv6 overlay network. In the future, communication, storage, and services will flow directly between devices and nodes across the decentralized internet.
+
+
+### **Why Does This Matter? Benefits & Impacts** 
+
+- Digital ownership is foundational to autonomy in the modern world, not a minor feature.
+- Owning your hardware and using sovereign software on a decentralized internet enables a true private cloud without tracking, profiling, or corporate oversight.
+- This model embodies the principles of a decentralized internet: user agency, transparency, energy efficiency, and human freedom.
+- It is more sustainable than hyperscale data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy and concentrate power in a few global entities.
+- A distributed infrastructure increases resilience, strengthens digital sovereignty, and uses resources more efficiently.
+- From individuals and families to remote teams and communities, this ecosystem enables private, secure digital collaboration without compromise.
+- It extends beyond any single device, allowing phones, laptops, nodes, and cloud tools to operate as one unified, user-owned digital environment.
+
+### **How to Get Started**
+
+- **Step 1:** Acquire an OwnPhone. (And optionally, a node if you want to run your own infrastructure.)
+- **Step 2:** Deploy Nextcloud yourself on the ThreeFold Grid.
+- **Step 3:** Setup: Within one working day you'll get your login details for your own Nextcloud environment
+- **Step 4:** Configure your device to connect to your Nextcloud instance, then start storing, syncing, sharing, and collaborating across devices (phone, laptop, tablet) just like with a mainstream cloud, but now on a decentralized infrastructure.
+- **Step 5:** Manage access, backups, encryption, and user rights. Enjoy full control over data ownership and privacy.
+
+### **Conclusion**
+
+Centralized systems built for extraction and monitoring are not the only way.
+OwnPhone + Nextcloud on the decentralized ThreeFold Grid offers a powerful digital sovereignty solution that's already live and in use.
+
+<br/>
+
+Reclaim autonomy.
+
+<br/>
+
+Own your digital life completely, without compromise.
+