How zero knowledge is changing the scales of the Internet

Data Ownership Distribution

Ten years ago, it was hard to imagine how much we now rely on the Internet. Today, however, most of our economic and social activity takes place online. The benefits of this change are especially evident in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses that have never relied on the Internet before are using it to attract new customers and customers to stay afloat. Families use it to stay connected while physically apart during the holiday season.

A consequence of the fact that we live online is the exponentially growing amount of data we produce.

This has become the main driving force for improving products and services. But the power that these algorithms (and their owners) have in supplying us with the news we read, the shows we watch, and the social connections we make cannot be overestimated. This trove of data created by our online interactions has led to the creation of a new economy defined by who has access to that data and who does not.

This intangible data economy is huge — larger than any commodity, including oil. And just like oil in the early 20th century, data is becoming increasingly centralized in the hands of a few companies. These data monopolies not only pose a threat to data privacy and censorship. Monopolies are bad for the economy. They encourage rent seeking, stifle growth, stifle innovation, and damage consumer welfare.

Yet Web 2.0 companies, which could be considered data monopolists, cannot provide personalized Internet access.

With all the power of the algorithms they are based on, today’s web applications are personalized for our shadows, not for us as unique individuals. YouTube doesn’t really know what you like, only what you click on. The results can be disappointing, even funny.

Accidentally click on an Instagram mattress ad once, and Facebook will think you need a new mattress for months.

And what’s worse, it happens without our permission and out of our control. Thus, the Internet’s potential to provide consumers with a hyper-personalized and fully-fledged digital experience is far from being realized.

The current state of the internet is a few monopolies that collect massive amounts of data but fail to deliver a personalized user experience. But how can we fix this without being even more liberal about the data we share? The good news is that there is a solution that allows us to achieve both a more private and more personalized web experience: zero-knowledge proof.

Evolution of privacy — zero knowledge

Zero-knowledge proof is a cryptographic protocol in which one party (the prover) proves to the other party (the verifier) that something is true without revealing how true it is.

For example, you can prove to someone that you are immune to COVID without disclosing how you got immunity (antibodies through a disease or vaccine) or when you became immune. The underlying cryptography ensures that neither the verifier nor any party observing the transaction learns any information at all about why the assertion is true. However, those same parties can be convinced even if they do not trust the prover making the assertion.

It sounds like magic, but it’s just math.

In fact, the same math underpins the encryption algorithms we rely on on a daily basis in e-commerce. But how does zero knowledge solve our original problem of the entire society?

It turns out that proving the truth of something without revealing the information itself can be a powerful primitive. Zero knowledge allows us to use the Internet more efficiently than we do today, leaving no retrievable traces of our data everywhere. Think of each of us as “proof” and any service on the Internet as a verifier:

We could log into Facebook by verifying our identity without revealing our email address, password, location, birthday, mother’s maiden name, or favorite pizza topping.

We could prove that our credit score qualifies us for a loan without having to initiate a complex investigation that would damage our credit score.

We could submit insurance claims that could be reviewed, reviewed and approved without having to reveal the rest of our insurance identity, which creates unethical reasons for claim denial.

We could prove important facts about ourselves and our identity to any application without fear that the information might be lost, stolen or misused. This use case in particular is becoming increasingly relevant as we envision a future where much of our biological data/genetic information will be used to deliver personalized healthcare and services.

So, if zero-knowledge proofs are so powerful, why aren’t they used for these applications yet?

It took decades from the invention of the computer before it evolved into the PC. Similarly, zero-knowledge proofs have only recently become practical. The cost of creating them is still high compared to the traditional way of doing business. And the reality is that very few would agree with a slower, less efficient system; even one that preserves their privacy and gives them more control over how their data is shared.

However, there have been significant developments in this area over the past decade. In 2019, we founded Aleo to accelerate the integration of zero knowledge into the Internet of the future. Aleo’s custom zero-knowledge solution known as Zexe ensures that we don’t have to compromise on performance.

A look into the future with zero knowledge

By using zero-knowledge cryptography, we can enjoy the benefits of global connectivity on the Internet without paying the invisible cost of our privacy. We do not need to demolish everything and build from scratch. Rather, we can develop new applications and new ways to interact with those applications.

By using zero-knowledge cryptography, companies like Aleo can help put power back in the hands of the users rather than the corporate interests that control it. It’s more than “owning your data”: it’s recovering and redefining your digital identity so that you and you alone can choose what you want to share and with whom for a more private, personalized and rewarding online experience.