For sake of argument, let’s say I upload an image that someone at the STORJ team doesn’t like (aka censorship working hard haha). Would anyone at STORJ be able to delete that file?
Second question: let’s assume that, for some reason, the STORJ team decides to completely abandon the project, therefore the domains are deleted. As much as my files are stored in other nodes around the world, would it be possible for me to “compile” those files and have access to my files again?
If not, doesn’t the word “decentralized” become a bit misleading, since we always have to go through a centralized entity (in this case, STORJ’s website) in order to operate?
Hope it makes sense and someone can help me understand these questions? I am totally new to blockchain and all that, so sorry for the super basic questions.
I’m sure the StorjLabs Team will respond to this soon, but i’ll briefly give you some answers.
as with most things, if you use it for private storage and nobody knows, it’s not a problem.
if you share it then there are rules…
yes specific data or accounts can be deleted.
not totally sure how accurately, it could be deleted…
doubt they could target a specific image, but maybe…
in worst case i think they would have to suspend or delete your account…
Storj DCS uses satellites and storagenodes.
currently only storagenodes are run by the community and the community satellites are in very early development stages, the first one was just launched recently.
the network can be accessed through these satellites directly and is all open source.
so very soon there will be nobody to pull the plug… not even sure storjlabs could now if they wanted to since all the source code exists and the network is live.
basically the website is just for easy access for people that are interested or in need of storage.
Storj DCS is more of a backbone product, of which many other developers can build their own products on.
Ofc StorjLabs keeps developing their own products and build new partnerships to further their market leading product.
This was a lot harder to explain well than i initially thought, hope i did a half reasonable job.
there should be a ton of information online, ill grab you some links.
Here you can find lots of interesting articles on various stuff about Storj DCS
Yes if its an illegal file it can be taken down if you share it publicly.
The word decentralized is only the idea that there is many Nodes around the world It has nothing to do with the blockchain at all, There always needs a control of how to access files though the sats if that goes away then yes it all pretty much looses but the data is still there less everyone delets there nodes, But if that happens all the data isnt going to be accessible less storj restarts that again.
But anyone can run a network of there own but they will not be able to access the files of the storj network less they have all the keys to do so. It would be there own network.
There are already some good answers, but let me just specify that unless you choose to share it publicly, you are the only one with the encryption keys to those files. Storj Labs won’t be able to know what you are storing unless you choose to make it public. But yes, if you do make it public they control the satellites and will have the power to delete something. They’ve stated no intention to do anything like that unless forced by the legal system they are operating in though. So as long as it’s not something illegal, you could share it publicly and wouldn’t have to worry about censorship.
Storj Labs operates the satellites which keep track of where the different pieces of your files are stored. If those go offline you won’t be able to access your files anymore.
There are lots of levels of decentralization. Storj focuses mostly on decentralization of storage resources, but not full decentralization of control.
And as mentioned already, it is possible to host community satellites and not rely on Storj. But at the moment there are only Storj Labs managed satellites. This will likely change in the future though.
I appreciate you all for the quick and detailed replies. It really helped me understand a bit more about the product/service.
I will also take a look at the links you shared.
Wishing you all a great weekend!