Archive · 19 Jan 2026
Berners-Lee Advocates Data Control for India
Tim Berners-Lee, the person who invented the World Wide Web, wants India to use a special system called SoLiD.
This system lets people control their own information, like medical records, and choose who they share it with.
Right now, India has a system called Aadhaar that gives everyone a unique ID, but Berners-Lee thinks it would be better if people could also share information safely.
He talked about this with someone who helped create Aadhaar and thinks India could be a great place to use SoLiD.
This system could help people share their data with doctors or researchers if they want to, making it easier to work together and keep information safe.
Tim Berners-Lee advocates for India to adopt SoLiD, a protocol for user data control.
SoLiD allows users to decide who they share their data with, such as medical records.
India's Aadhaar system provides unique IDs but lacks a platform for secure data sharing.
Berners-Lee discussed SoLiD with Pramod Varma, an architect of Aadhaar and UPI.
SoLiD is developed by Inrupt and researchers at MIT to make the web safer and more accessible.
- Who
- Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web
- What
- Advocacy for SoLiD protocol to give users control over their data
- When
- During the Jaipur Literary Festival to promote his memoir
- Where
- India, specifically discussing Aadhaar and UPI systems
- Why
- To empower users to control and share their data securely
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Inventor of the World Wide Web and proponent of SoLiD
- SoLiD
- Social Linked Data protocol for user data control
- Aadhaar
- India's unique digital identity system
- UPI
- India's digital payment interface
- Inrupt
- Company driving the SoLiD protocol
- MIT
- Institution involved in SoLiD development
- Turing Prize
- Awarded to Berners-Lee in 2016 for Web invention