The team behind the Ethereum layer 2 Aztec Network has recently introduced a groundbreaking whistleblowing platform called StealthNote. This platform allows employees to express their thoughts about their employers anonymously. What sets StealthNote apart is its utilization of zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring that posts on the platform are authored by individuals who have access to an email address associated with the company being reviewed.

Saleel Pichen, a developer at Aztec Labs, explained in a post on April 14th that StealthNote generates a zero-knowledge proof of a Google JSON Web Token, which authenticates users without revealing any personal information, thereby confirming that the poster possesses an email from a specific company domain.

StealthNote has garnered attention from various industry players, with posts from employees of Aztec Labs, Cornell University, Ethereum Foundation, StarkWare, Scroll, and Columbia University. These posts mainly consist of greetings and expressions of support for privacy solutions. A worker from Nim Network emphasized the importance of making privacy a priority again.

The use of zero-knowledge proofs, as highlighted by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in a recent blog post, has gained momentum as concerns surrounding data security and government surveillance continue to escalate. Buterin criticized the assumption that governments prioritize transparency over privacy and advocated for ZK-proofs as a means to balance this trade-off, citing their ability to provide precise control over information visibility.

Aztec Network, known for its privacy-focused solutions, was launched on the Ethereum platform in February 2020. The company recently secured $100 million in Series B funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a prominent tech-focused venture capital firm, in December 2022. Other contributors to the funding round included A Capital and King River.

The introduction of StealthNote and the increasing adoption of ZK-proofs highlight a growing emphasis on privacy and data protection within the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. As the industry continues to evolve, solutions like StealthNote and technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs are playing a crucial role in empowering individuals to safeguard their privacy and security in an increasingly digital world.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/aztec-stealthnote-privacy-corporate-whistleblowers?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound