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description: Use a Blockstack ID with a DApp
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# How you control your data

When you use a Blockstack decentralized application (DApp), the data that you
enter into that application, photos, documents, and more is something you own
and control. Traditional applications such as Instagram or PayPal store your
data _on their corporate servers_.

Blockstack DApps do not allow applications to store your data on the
application's corporate servers. Instead, you store your data with a _storage
provider_ you choose. A Gaia hub provider gives you personal storage for your
application data.

If you want to walk away from a particular DApp, there’s no need even to export
your data. You  simply stop using the DApp and it no longer can read or modify
your data. And if you want to start using a different DApp with the same data,
you can.

## Understand Gaia hub providers

The Blockstack Ecosystem provides a technology for data storage called, Gaia.
Gaia is _storage hub_ technology for storing application data. A storage
provider is simply an organization that implemented Gaia and is providing
storage hubs for users. Any organization or person can create a Gaia storage
system and become a Gaia hub provider.

These providers host data in one or more existing storage systems of their
choice. These storage systems are typically cloud storage systems such as
Amazon, Dropbox, iCloud or Azure to name a few.

Users that create an identity in the Blockstack Browser are given a choice of
which Gaia hub provider to use. Blockstack itself runs a Gaia hub and acts
as a hub provider. The default choice is the Blockstack-run Gaia hub.

Every provider will store your data at a particular address or URL. These
addresses look similar to any address you put in your web browser. When you log
into a DApp, you are giving that the application the ability to save
data to the URL on your behalf.

## Current limitations of data storage

The following are limitations of the current system.

* You cannot move your storage from one provider to another.
* You cannot store your data on your own computer.

Blockstack is always seeking to expand Gaia's capabilities. These limitations
will disappear as they are overcome by new Gaia features.