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---
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layout: usenew
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permalink: /:collection/:path.html
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---
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# How you control your data
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When you use a Blockstack decentralized application (DApp), the data that you
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enter into that application, photos, documents, and more is something you own
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and control. Traditional applications such as Instagram or PayPal store your
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data _on their corporate servers_.
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Blockstack DApps do not allow applications to store your data on the
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application's corporate servers. Instead, you store your data with a _storage
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provider_ you choose. A Gaia hub provider gives you personal storage for your
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application data.
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If you want to walk away from a particular DApp, there’s no need even to export
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your data. You simply stop using the DApp and it no longer can read or modify
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your data. And if you want to start using a different DApp with the same data,
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you can.
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## Understand Gaia hub providers
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The Blockstack Ecosystem provides a technology for data storage called, Gaia.
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Gaia is _storage hub_ technology for storing application data. A storage
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provider is simply an organization that implemented Gaia and is providing
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storage hubs for users. Any organization or person can create a Gaia storage
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system and become a Gaia hub provider.
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These providers host data in one or more existing storage systems of their
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choice. These storage systems are typically cloud storage systems such as
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Amazon, Dropbox, iCloud or Azure to name a few.
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Users that create an identity in the Blockstack Browser are given a choice of
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which Gaia hub provider to use. Blockstack itself runs a Gaia hub and acts
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as a hub provider. The default choice is the Blockstack-run Gaia hub.
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Every provider will store your data at a particular address or URL. These
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addresses look similar to any address you put in your web browser. When you log
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into a DApp, you are giving that the application the ability to save
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data to the URL on your behalf.
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## Current limitations of data storage
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The following are limitations of the current system.
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* You cannot move your storage from one provider to another.
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* You cannot store your data on your own computer.
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Blockstack is always seeking to expand Gaia's capabilities. These limitations
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will disappear as they are overcome by new Gaia features.
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