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A protocol designed to use zero knowledge cryptography to verify identities has landed on the Aleo blockchain, a zero knowledge privacy (ZKP) network.<\/p>\n
The protocol, called zPass, enables users to upload identity documents offline to privacy servers and share anonymous \u201cproofs\u201d to organizations. As a result, these companies do not need to store this data themselves.<\/p>\n
Users who generate their own proofs can then determine exactly who they share their information with and just how much personal data they wish to reveal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex Pruden, Aleo\u2019s CEO, told Blockworks in an interview that zPass represents the implementation of a research paper into zk-creds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea of zk-creds was to take a US passport, create a digital record from it, then use that record for age verification purposes,\u201d Pruden said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pruden explained that on zPass, a two-step process helps ensure that individual identities are safely verified. First, the issuance of the record on-chain is based on the existence of a physical record, and then it is the ability for each individual to control their own privacy keys which generate the proof of identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/strong> Mastering decentralized identity: The pillar of Web3<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe key piece of what zk-creds and zPass does is to issue the identity, and the identity is the document based on a real-world physical document,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n John Reynolds, a product manager for Aleo, noted that existing zk identity systems either rely on centralized proving schemes, or are decentralized but not private.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of zk<\/a> identity systems use a centralized proving system or have centralized sequencers \u2014\u00a0 we have a leveraged tailored [layer-1<\/a>], we have the ability for users themselves to act as provers, they can generate proofs, send those proofs to Aleo, decentralized validators<\/a> can validate those proofs, and the Aleo blockchain will not push all of this overhead verification to third party systems,\u201d Reynolds told Blockworks in an interview.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n On the note of decentralized identity solutions, Reynolds said that because they are not private and information is publicly available on a database, users can be tracked.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey may not be able to see all your information, but they can see who you\u2019re sharing it with and how often you\u2019re sharing it with them, and can target you as a result of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At launch, zPass will focus primarily on providing zk age verification and creating child-safe spaces online, Reynolds said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to create a space that supports children and avoids them from being exposed to potential predators or [predatory] content,\u201d he said. \u201cSo our main goal [for now] is to lean into age verification.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss the next big story \u2013 join our\u00a0free daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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