Were a quarter of a century into an era of digital feudalism.

The feudal system is a medieval construct: serfs work the land to create value, and landlords confiscate most of that value.

Today, instead of farm produce, the asset class is datacreated by us, but captured by digital landlords such as social media and other Web2 applications. Surfing the internet has become serfing the internet, with users yielding intimate details of their lives for the internet lordships to aggregate, expropriate, and monetize. 

This is important, because personal data isnt just the biproduct of your labor. It is the stuff of your identity in the digital age. It constitutes a digital version of you, that remembers everything you did online, everyone you interacted with. 

There are obvious problems with this arrangement. Notably, we cant we cant use our own data to plan our lives. Its stored in other peoples silos, which we cant accessbut third parties like Cambridge Analytica can, often without our knowledge. Meanwhile, we enjoy none of the rewards of this third-party data usage, yet bear most of the risk and responsibility for its clean up in the event our digital lords lose or abuse our data. And finally, we cant make money from the data ourselves, but are forced to watch as companies get rich from these valuable assets.

The solution? Self-sovereign identity

What each of us needs is a digital self-sovereign identity (SSI), neither bestowed nor revocable by any central administrator and enforceable in any context, in person and online, anywhere in the world.  

This will be one of the key topics discussed at  Web3 & Blockchain World (W3B), in Toronto on November 8-9, 2022. Business leaders from many countries will convene for two days to discuss how to harness the power of Web3 and blockchain technologies. 

Heres how a self-sovereign identity works: It starts with Web3, also known as the Internet of ownership, which supports the creation and custody of non-fungible identity tokens through which we control the rights to steward our own identity, access (and allow others to access) the data that comprise our identities. We envision an identity commons, distributed among and maintained by the people whose identities it protects so that everyones incentives align, and token holders participate in rule-making around the preservation and usage of the commons.

Several identity projects are working to provide these tools and capabilities. Here are a few:

Cardea is an open-source verifiable digital credential developed by Indicio and field-tested with SITA Aero on the island of Aruba, where travelers used the Cardea app to prove their COVID test status at restaurants and other tourist locations.

MemberPass is an SSI solution, developed by the credit union service organization Bonifii, leveraging Evernyms verifiable credential technology. It protects members from ID theft and fraud without revealing any personal data.

Yoma (Youth Agency Marketplace) used Trinsic IDs SSI specification to create verifiable digital résumés for job-seeking African youth.

Liberating ourselves from our digital landlords

The ultimate solution to digital identity must be independent of any corporation, government, or other third party, and beyond the whims of executives or bureaucrats. It must be built to outlive its users and enforce their right to be forgotten. To be inclusive, it must be user-friendly with a lightweight mobile interface and low-cost dispute resolution.

This transition will take time and, eventually, we expect Web2 organizations to rebuild the trust of those whose data they hold in three ways.

The first involves governance. Companies and government agencies must define decision rights around their data and develop an accountability framework that disciplines how employees use data.

The second involves ceasing the Web2 worlds habitual collecting and storing of customer data. Meanwhile, it is time the tech giants begin erasing their massive databases altogether (after returning records to customers), or migrating the data to distributed storage systems, such as the IPFS, and transferring control to customers.

The third way to rebuild trust involves cultivating new core competencies: the ability to work with huge anonymized datasets rented from large numbers of people, all handled in a distributed and trust-minimized manner. It will flip the data-analytics business model on its head and reward corporations for serving as data brokers on behalf of individuals. 

The self-sovereign identity is one the pillars of a new social contract for the digital economy, and will be critical to the transformation to a more open, inclusive, and private economy.

We need more than access to our data. We need ownership of it.

Don Tapscott is author of 16 widely read books about technology in business and society, including the best-seller Blockchain Revolution, which he co-authored with his son Alex. He and Alex are co-hosting W3B in Toronto, November 8 and 9.

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Californias Orange County has declared a health emergency due to an overwhelming surge in respiratory illness thats pushing pediatric hospitals to their limits.

Sky-high numbers of young patients are seeking emergency-room care in area childrens hospitals for RSV, the flu, flu-like illnesses, and, to a lesser extent, COVID, the OC Health Care Agency said Monday. The emergency declaration will allow the county to receive help from the state and federal governments, and to seek aid from nearby counties.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus infection, is a common virus that hospitalizes thousands of infants and young children each year, though it can also pose a risk to the elderly. Symptoms can range from mild cold-like ailments like sneezing, sore throat, fever, and stuffy nose to pneumonia, which can prove fatal. Patients can quickly take a turn for the worst.

Childrens Hospital of Orange County is seeing upwards of 400 children in its emergency department dailya record highand is using all available space to meet demands. It has activated a command center within the hospital to manage the high patient load, a spokesperson told Fortune in a Tuesday statement.

Southern California is far from alone, with hospitals all across North America experiencing similar strugglesand some even considering outdoor tents to house patients and calling in the National Guard for help.

Dr. James Stein, chief medical officer of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said his hospital is doing its best to accept transfers of respiratory patients from nearby hospitals that are overwhelmed, but is struggling itself.

This increase in RSV and other respiratory illnesses has stretched our capacity in the emergency department, he told Fortune in a statement.

The hospital is still admitting RSV patients and continues to do its best to accept transfer patients. But due to capacity constraints, we are not always able to accommodate, he said.

One of the worst surges Ive ever seen

The vast majorityaround 75% of U.S. childrens hospital beds are currently full, according to NBC News. To the north, Canada is seeing similar issues, with some pediatric hospitals canceling surgeries, according to media reports. Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario, a pediatric hospital in Ottawa, was at 130% capacity for intensive care beds and 134% capacity for inpatient beds, respectively, last week, a Canadian TV outlet reported.

Anecdotally, the figures have a ring of truth, Dr. Anita Patel, a critical care doctor at Childrens National hospital in Washington, D.C., told Fortune on Tuesday.

Patel is in contact with other East Coast pediatric hospitals, and almost every single major one is nearly full, she said.

Childrens National has been operating close to capacity for over a month. Its formed an additional team of high-level ICU doctors to care for children who need ICU admission, but who must stay in the emergency room until a bed opens up, according to Patel.

The surge in pediatric patients was initially fueled by the common cold, but RSV quickly surpassed it. While levels of RSV have since plateaued, the flu is really on a rapid rise in our region, she said, adding that her hospital hasnt recently seen a significant number of patients with COVID or other coronaviruses that can cause respiratory illness.

I can honestly say that, unfortunately, with both RSV and the flu, we have had kids that needed to be intubated or have breathing tubes to help get through viral illness, she said.

Ive been a practicing ICU doctor for a decade now, and I think I can safely say this is one of the worst surges Ive ever seen.

Early surge bodes poorly for the winter

Flu and RSV cases usually dont rise until later in the year, leaving experts like Patel bracing for a potentially worse winter at childrens hospitals across the continent. 

A few factors are likely contributing, Patel says, including the abandonment of pandemic precautions and the impact COVID may have on childrens immune systems, potentially making them more vulnerable to other viruses.

Most kids have had COVID, and there could really be something about COVID affecting childrens immune systems that we havent been able to fully understand at this time, she said. 

Whats more, influenza Athe dominant strain of flu so far this yearhit children in the Southern Hemisphere particularly hard during North Americas spring season. It seems to be having a similar effect on U.S. and Canadian children, though experts arent sure if thats due to something about the virus itself or other factors playing in.

Healthy children get incredibly ill annually, ICU doctor warns

Orange County public health officials advise parents to seek immediate medical attention for their child if theyre having trouble breathing, showing signs of dehydration like not urinating or having very dark urine, experiencing a persistent or high fever, or if they look or act very sick. Parents in the county should call their pediatrician or nearest urgent care or hospital for advice on obtaining care before they head in, according to the agency.

In the COVID era, parents seem most concerned about children with pre-existing conditions when it comes to viral illnessand not always so concerned about those who are healthy.

Patel cautions them to think twice and ensure all their children are up to date on vaccinations, in addition to friends and loved ones who spend time with them. Its one of the only tried and true ways to keep kids out of the hospital, she said.

Of course children with a pre-existing condition are more at risk, but every single year we see previously healthy children get incredibly ill, and in rare circumstances, die, she said. 

Thats why, among ICU attending physicians, youd be hard pressed to find one that doesnt regularly, routinely get their kids a flu shot.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk floated the idea of selling the coveted blue checkmarks on the service, used to identify verified high-profile users and weed out imposters, for $8 a month. 

Twitters current lords & peasants system for who has or doesnt have a blue checkmark is bullshit, Musk tweeted on Tuesday. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month. 

Musk said that charging users for verification would give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators. The idea, which has yet to be finalized, comes just days after he acquired the service for $44 billion as part of a plan that includes taking the company private. 

Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, made the comment about user verification following an exchange on Twitter with horror author Stephen King, who had complained about Musks plan to charge users $20 per month for the blue check marks. After King said that Twitter should pay him to use its service, and that hed leave if he had to pay $20, Musk responded: we need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?

Users who pay would get priority in replies, mentions, and searcheswhich Musk says is essential to defeating spam/scam accounts. Users would also be able to post longer forms of audio and video on the service and would see half as many ads. Musk later added that public figures who dont pay would still get a secondary tag below their name to identify them as legitimate. That sparked its own back-and-forth, with some users asking who would be considered a public figure.

But whether its $20 or $8, many Twitter users are unhappy about Musk musing about charging verified users. 

Venture capitalist Jason Calacanis, who is serving as one of Musks advisors on the Twitter acquisition, and has put his name in as a possible CEO, posted a poll on Twitter over the weekend asking how much people would be willing to pay for a blue checkmark. The options were: $5, $10, or $15 a month, or nothing at all. As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 82% of the nearly 2 million votes were for the wouldnt pay, option. Musk, on the day the poll was posted, responded by saying interesting, but seems intent on going forward with the plan to charge users. 

Twitter users complained that paying for verification would defeat the purpose of differentiating high-profile users from any imposters. 

What would even be the incentive to be verified if its something you pay for? It would no longer be an indicator of anything other than you pay $5 a month. It only sounds desirable now because you cant pay for it, a verified user wrote. 

Another user with a blue checkmark tweeted: the point of Twitter verification is that for certain individuals/organizations its useful to be able to verify their statements are coming from them. (This is why so many journalists/reporters are verified.) Its supposed to help combat disinformation, not be a status symbol.

Others questioned how paying would eliminate bot accounts, like Musk suggested. 

So I can create an account with [a] celebrity name, pay $8 and everyone will believe I am actually this person, another verified user wrote. How on earth will this help in the fight against spam/impersonating on social media? 

TechCrunchs security editor tweeted about instances of phishing since Musk made his verification plan publicincluding a screenshot of a scam email designed to look like it came from Twitter asking for personal information. 

Twitters ongoing verification chaos is now a cybersecurity problem, he wrote. It looks like some people (including in our newsroom) are getting crude phishing emails trying to trick people into turning over their Twitter credentials. 

In the week since acquiring Twitter, Musk has had to grapple with a number of problems including a surge in hate speech. But he seems to be amusing himself, switching his bio from his initial self-declared title of Chief Twit to Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator and posting memes of himself. 

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For people concerned about the recent surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, theres good news: a vaccine is on the way. On Tuesday, Pfizer announced the companys maternal RSV vaccine has shown enough promising data to be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year. If approved, the vaccine would become the first to help prevent RSV in young infants, but its unclear when it would become available.

RSV is a common respiratory illness that usually causes cold-like symptoms in most people, but can be serious in infants and young children. Its the leading cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis (inflammation and congestion in the small airways of the lungs) in babies under 1. 

A maternal vaccine given to pregnant people would pass on antibodies to babies before delivery, similar to the flu and whooping cough vaccines. In the Pfizer trial, the vaccine was about 80% effective in preventing RSV in infants, CNN reports.

Weve had a major unmet need in our field of pediatrics for an RSV vaccine or other immunizations as well as antiviral treatment. Its been an elusive topic for scientists, says Dr. Larry Kociolek, medical director of infection, prevention and control and attending physician diseases at Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago. But weve made a lot of progress over the last several years in understanding how people become immune to RSV.

The virus typically follows a seasonal pattern with cases rising in late fall and early winter, sometimes coinciding with flu season. Each year, approximately 58,000 children under 5 are hospitalized due to RSV infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And with the recent surge, many childrens hospitals are already at capacity.

Every year we see high levels of RSV cases among babies in the U.S. with some regions reporting hospital admission rates higher than normal this year, Dr. Eric A.F. Simões, clinical professor, pediatrics-infectious diseases, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Childrens Hospital Colorado, Aurora, says in a press release about the Pfizer vaccine. A maternal vaccine with high efficacy that can help protect infants from birth could substantially reduce the burden of severe RSV among newborns through six months of age, and, if approved by regulatory authorities, will likely have a significant impact on disease in the U.S. and globally.

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When it comes to COVID, New York is experiencing a wave of highly transmissible, immune-evasive BQ infectionsand its the epicenter of a national wave, experts say.

BQ variants comprised a third of reported New York cases as of Mondayand 15% of cases in California, according to data from GISAID, an international research organization that tracks changes in COVID and the flu virus.

With testing and viral sequencing at all-time lows, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the BQ family actually comprises a greater share of COVID casesnearly 43% in the New York region, and nearly 23% in the California region.

Combined, BQ variants now account for the largest portion of identified cases in California, making it an emerging hotspot for the variant, Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Ark., tells Fortune.

With the family of variants now trending on both the East and West coasts, experts say its only a matter of time before the wave engulfs the rest of the country. It will likely bring a rising tide of severe illness requiring hospitalization, as it appears to be doing in New York. 

The viral familyvariant BQ.1.1 in particularis clearly successful around the world. Its trending up in countries like France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Denmark, Ryan Gregory, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, tells Fortune.

The wider the spread of variants, the more opportunity for their descendants to pick up additional mutations, he said. That could mean that COVID becomes more able to spread, kill, or leave those infected with Long COVID.

Hospitalizations trending upward in impacted New York

The fact that the New York BQ wave now encompasses California is no surprise, Rajnarayanan says. COVID variants that rise on the East Coast often do so on the West Coast shortly thereafter. Why? California is also does a lot of viral sequencing to determine variant types, but it publicly reports those results more slowly than New York. The latter is considered a bellwether state for its robust sequencing capabilities and large volume of international travelers.

Because of a general lack of COVID testing and lag in reporting, the CDC issues estimates of current COVID conditions as forecasts, a week at a time. It estimated that BQ variants comprised more than a quarter of U.S. cases through this past Saturday. 

In the north-central region of the U.S. that includes Montana, Utah, and the Dakotas, the agency estimated that BQ variants comprised roughly 28% of casesand nearly the same percentage in the southern-central region of the U.S., which includes New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana.

Combined, GISAID and CDC data paint a picture of a BQ wave engulfing the nationone that will impact available hospital beds, according to Rajnarayanan and Gregory. COVID hospitalizations are beginning to tick up in both statesdramatically so in New York. And while U.S. COVID hospitalizations remain relatively stable, the rest of the country could soon follow New Yorks lead.

A pretty troublesome doubling time

The family of BQ COVID variants was recently labeled as pretty troublesome by top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci due to the quick rate at which cases of it are rising in countries like the U.S.

When you get variants like that, you look at what their rate of increase is as a relative proportion of the variants, and this has a pretty troublesome doubling time, Fauci, speaking about the BQ variants, told CBS News last month.

Along with XBB, a combination of two Omicron strains spiking in Singapore, BQ.1.1 is thought to be the most immune-evasive new variant yetand one that clearly has the ability to surpass still U.S.-dominant BA.5, from which BQ variants evolved.

BQ.1.1s extreme immune evasiveness and transmissibility sets it up to be the principal driver of the next U.S. wave in the weeks ahead, Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, tweeted last month.

In October Topol told Fortune that scientists wont know to what extent BQ.1.1 evades vaccines, if it does, until it reaches 30% to 50% of cases somewhere.

Its not going to wipe out vaccine efficacy, but it could put a dent in protection against hospitalizations and death, he said.

BQ.1.1 is already known to escape antibody immunity, rendering useless some of the key treatments used in high-risk individuals with COVID. According to a study last month out of Peking Universitys Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center in China, BQ.1.1 escapes immunity from bebtelovimab, the last monoclonal antibody drug that is effective on all variants, as well as Evusheld, which works on some. 

The good news, if there is any, about BQ is that new Omicron boosters will almost certainly provide some protection against them because they were designed to tackle close relative BA.5, Fauci told CBS.

Recent studies have shown that while updated Omicron boosters provide temporarily renewed protection against severe disease and death, they dont provide better protection than the original COVID shots did.

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If you are having difficulty keeping up with your mortgage payment, there are several options available to help you get back on track to make on-time monthly payments. Two commonly used agreements you might consider: forbearance and deferment. But these two options impact your mortgage loan, term, and payments differently. 

Knowing how each agreement works, and how they need to be repaid, can help you make a more informed decision about which option is better suited to address your current short-term financial needs.  

Mortgage forbearance vs. deferment 

Mortgage forbearance and deferment are often misconstrued as being interchangeable terms since there are only nuances between each, says Shmuel Shayowitz, president and chief lending officer at Approved Fundinga direct mortgage lender with over three decades of experience providing loan solutions for homeowners. 

Mortgage forbearance is an agreement between the homeowner and lender to temporarily pause or reduce mortgage payments. Any missed payments are required to be repaid once the forbearance period ends, but there are multiple repayment options available for homeowners.

Mortgage deferment is an agreement to move past overdue mortgage payments to the end of loan term to be paid at a later date. One way to think of deferment is like hitting a snooze button on an alarm, says Shayowitz. The alarm will still go off, just at a later time.

Mortgage forbearance and deferment agreements give homeowners facing hardships time to lower or pause their monthly payments while they get their finances back in order. Understanding how these two options work and their benefits can help you make a more informed decision as a borrower. 

What is mortgage forbearance? 

Forbearance is a three to six month pause or reduction in your monthly mortgage payment without the risk of foreclosing on your home. After the forbearance period ends, you are responsible for paying back any missed or reduced payments. 

Forbearance gives homeowners time to deal with temporary financial hardships that may prevent you from making your mortgage paymentssuch as an unexpected loss or reduction in income, unexpected expenses, or job displacement as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

How mortgage forbearance works 

If you become aware you will not be able to make your monthly payments on-time, you should contact your mortgage lender to discuss payment options, says Shayowitz. Depending on your unique situation, you may be able to pause or reduce your current payments, but interest will still accrue on any unpaid balances during this time. Your lender may require proof of your financial hardship. 

After the forbearance period ends, you will resume making your regularly scheduled mortgage payments. Additionally youll have to repay any missed payments using one of these four payment methods.

  1. Repayment plan. A small portion of the owed balance is added to your regular monthly mortgage payments until it is paid offthis may last up to several months. 
  1. Loan modification. Your lender may agree to reduce your monthly payment to a more affordable amount and add any missed payments back into the balance owed. This option may extend the term of your loan, so it should only be considered if you can no longer make your regular mortgage payment. 
  1. Reinstatement. If you have the funds available, you may be able to pay back your missed payments all at once as a lump sum. 
  1. Deferment. Your lender may agree to postpone any missed payments to the end of your loan if you can make your regular payments, but cannot afford to pay a higher payment. 

Typically, mortgage forbearance agreements last for three to six months, depending on the borrowers unique situation. But in 2020, the CARES Act gave borrowers impacted by Covid-19 the option to extend their forbearance period for up to 18 months for eligible homeowners. 

Mortgage loans arent the only kind of loan that allow a forbearance agreementstudent loans, car loans, and personal loans provide this option for borrowers facing dire financial hardships. Credit card payments may also offer forbearance agreements.   

Pros and cons of mortgage forbearance 

Mortgage forbearance can help homeowners avoid foreclosing on their mortgage during short-term economic setbacks, which can have a significant negative impact on your credit score. Homeowners can continue living in their home while they come up with a plan to repay their owed balances on any missed or reduced mortgage payments. 

One potential con: Interest continues accruing during a forbearance period, which may increase your future monthly payments. If you are already having difficulty making your current payments, this option may not be the best fit. Forbearances are reported in your credit history, which may impact your ability to refinance your mortgage or qualify for a new loan for a short period after forbearance. 

What is mortgage deferment? 

Deferment is a temporary suspension in your monthly mortgage payment, typically lasting three to six months. After the deferral period ends, your missed payments are added onto the end of the loan term to be paid at a later dateor earlier if the home is sold or transferred, or the loan is refinanced.

Deferment is commonly used to give a homeowner who is already behind on their payments time to catch up. To further help out struggling homeowners, lenders also pause interest on these missed payments.

How mortgage deferment works

Mortgage deferment is an option available to homeowners who need help catching up on their overdue mortgage payments due to unforeseen financial hardships. This can help you save money on late fees and avoid a missed payment reflecting on your credit history.

Your lender will then determine if your situation is eligible for defermentand if so, they will communicate the terms of the agreement, including the length of the deferral period and future payment due dates. 

After approval, any regularly scheduled payments during the period and past due amounts will be added to the end of the term of the loan to be repaid. During this time, interest will not accrue on the amounts owed. 

Typically, mortgage deferment periods last for three to six months. However, homeowners impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic were given an extension of up to 18 months. Aside from mortgages, other financial obligations offer payment deferrals including student loans, car loans, personal loans, insurance and credit card payments. 

Pros and cons of deferment 

When your loan is deferred, any overdue payments are added to the end of the loan term. Lenders agree to deferments to help homeowners avoid foreclosing on their home and continuing to receive late payment fees, which negatively impact your credit score. Typically, interest does not accrue during the deferral period, so payments stay the same. 

On the downside, agreeing to a deferment also means you agree to continue paying your mortgage past your initial loan term length. Before choosing to defer your loan, you should carefully decide whether your current financial situation is short-term and can be resolved by the time you resume your paymentsotherwise you risk falling behind on your loan again. 

How to choose between the two 

If you are deciding whether you should go into a forbearance or deferment agreement on your mortgage, you should consider both your current and future financial state. 

If your current financial setback is temporary, meaning it will be resolved within 90 days or less, you might be better off forbearing your loan. But if you anticipate that your current situation will impact your ability to repay your missed payments on top of your regular mortgage payments, then deferring your loan payments to the end of the loan term might be the best option. 

Regardless of which option you choose, it is important to be extremely transparent with your lender throughout the entire process so they can help you make informed decisions about your repayment strategy. 

[Lenders] work extremely hard to try to accommodate people who are having hardships and circumstances that prevent them from making payments, says Shayowitz, [Lenders] do not want to foreclose on homeowners.

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