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A data haven is a computer or a network that holds data protected by both technical means (encryption) and location in a country that has either no laws, or poorly-enforced laws against the most common uses of data havens and no extradition treaties.
Origin of the term
This term was coined by Bruce Sterling in his 1989 novel Islands in the Net. The "modern-day" segments of Neal Stephenson's 1999 novel Cryptonomicon concern a small group of entrepreneurs attempting to create a data haven.
Purposes of data havens
Reasons for establishing data havens include access to free political speech for users in countries where censorship of the Internet is practiced. These countries include People's Republic of China, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
Other reasons include:
- whistleblowing
- software or speech that violates laws such as the DMCA
- copyright infringement
- circumventing data protection laws
- online gambling
- pornography
While it has been claimed by some advocates of data havens that they should not be used to facilitate spam, terrorism or child pornography, others seek data havens for these very purposes.
Two models
HavenCo (centralized) and Freenet (decentralized) are two models of modern-day data havens.
See also
"Data haven"