En
menu
Site language
Ru En
Социальные сети

cointelegraph.com ZKPs can prove I'm old enough without telling you my age

Opinion by: Andre Omietanski, General Counsel, and Amal Ibraymi, Legal Counsel at Aztec LabsWhat if you could prove you're over 18, without revealing your birthday, name, or anything else at all? Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) make this hypothetical a reality and solve one of the key challenges online: verifying age without sacrificing privacy. The need for better age verification todayWe're witnessing an uptick in laws being proposed restricting minors' access to social media and the internet, including in Australia, Florida, and China. To protect minors from inappropriate adult content, platform owners and governments often walk a tightrope between inaction and overreach. For example, the state of Louisiana in the US recently enacted a law meant to block minors from viewing porn. Sites required users to upload an ID before viewing content. The Free Speech Coalition challenged the law as unconstitutional, making the case that it infringed on First Amendment rights. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed on procedural grounds. The reaction, however, highlights the dilemma facing policymakers and platforms: how to block minors without violating adults' rights or creating new privacy risks.Traditional age verification failsCurrent age verification tools are either ineffective or invasive. Self-declaration is meaningless, since users can simply lie about their age. ID-based verification is overly invasive. No one should be required to upload their most sensitive documents, putting themselves at risk of data breaches and identity theft. Biometric solutions like fingerprints and face scans are convenient for users but raise important ethical, privacy, and security concerns. Biometric systems are not always accurate and may generate false positives and negatives. The irreversible nature of the data, which can't be changed like a regular password can, is also less than ideal. Other methods, like behavioral tracking and AI-driven verification of browser patterns, are also problematic, using machine learning to analyze user interactions and identify patterns and anomalies, raising concerns of a surveillance culture.ZKPs as the privacy-preserving solutionZero-knowledge proofs present a compelling solution. Like a government ID provider, a trusted entity verifies the user's age and generates a cryptographic proof confirming they are over the required age. Websites only need to check the proof, not the excess personal data, ensuring privacy while keeping minors at the gates. No centralized data storage is required, alleviating the burden on platforms such as Google, Meta, and WhatsApp and eliminating the risk of data breaches. Recent: How zero-knowledge proofs can make AI fairerAdopting and enforcing ZKPs at scaleZKPs aren't a silver bullet. They can be complex to implement. The notion of "don't trust, verify," proven by indisputable mathematics, may cause some regulatory skepticism. Policymakers may hesitate to trust cryptographic proofs over visible ID verification. There are occasions when companies may need to disclose personal information to authorities, such as during an investigation into financial crimes or government inquiries. This would challenge ZKPs, whose very intention is for platforms not to hold this data in the first place.ZKPs also struggle with scalability and performance, being somewhat computationally intensive and tricky to program. Efficient implementation techniques are being explored, and breakthroughs, such as the Noir programming language, are making ZKPs more accessible to developers, driving the adoption of secure, privacy-first solutions. A safer, smarter future for age verificationGoogle's move to adopt ZKPs for age verification is a promising signal that mainstream platforms are beginning to embrace privacy-preserving technologies. But to fully realize the potential of ZKPs, we need more than isolated solutions locked into proprietary ecosystems. Crypto-native wallets can go further. Open-source and permissionless blockchain-based systems offer interoperability, composability, and programmable identity. With a single proof, users can access a range of services across the open web — no need to start from scratch every time, or trust a single provider (Google) with their credentials.ZKPs flip the script on online identity — proving what matters, without exposing anything else. They protect user privacy, help platforms stay compliant, and block minors from restricted content, all without creating new honeypots of sensitive data.Google's adoption of ZKPs shows mainstream momentum is building. But to truly transform digital identity, we must embrace crypto-native, decentralized systems that give users control over what they share and who they are online.In an era defined by surveillance, ZKPs offer a better path forward — one that's secure, private, and built for the future.Opinion by: Andre Omietanski, General Counsel, and Amal Ibraymi, Legal Counsel at Aztec Labs.This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

cointelegraph.com
скрыть

news.bitcoin.com SEC Extends Deadline for Broker-Dealers to Meet Daily Reserve Rule Changes

The SEC’s extended deadline gives broker-dealers a critical buffer to overhaul systems, streamline daily reserve computations, and capitalize on new digital asset custody flexibility. SEC Pushes Back Reserve Computation Rule Deadline for Broker-Dealers The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on June 25 that it is extending the compliance deadline for its amended Rule […]

2 news.bitcoin.com
скрыть

blockonomi.com Bitcoin Activity Drops to 2020 Levels as Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Attracts a New Wave of Buyers

The month of June has seen Bitcoin (BTC) between a low of around $98k and a high of around $111k. Amid these massive movements, Bitcoin (BTC) has not had the more bullish swings seen in past cycles. The price of BTC has remained relatively stable, with some bearish movement following the escalation of the conflict [...] The post Bitcoin Activity Drops to 2020 Levels as Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Attracts a New Wave of Buyers appeared first on Blockonomi.

34 blockonomi.com
скрыть

bitcoinist.com Bitcoin Exchange Flows Drop To 10-Year Low – Consolidation Or Supply Shock?

Bitcoin is once again at a pivotal moment, trading near $106,000 after a turbulent week marked by sharp moves and high uncertainty. The leading cryptocurrency briefly lost the $100K mark following geopolitical tensions but rebounded strongly, gaining over 5% in less than 48 hours. This swift recovery highlights the extreme volatility dominating the market, with […]

35 bitcoinist.com
скрыть

news.bitcoin.com Russia Sets Digital Ruble Deadline for Mass Adoption by Major Banks and Retailers

Russia is fast-tracking a nationwide digital currency revolution, mandating banks and major retailers to adopt the digital ruble in a sweeping payments system overhaul. Digital Ruble Rollout Accelerates With Mandatory Integration Deadlines A sweeping overhaul of Russia’s retail payments sector is on the horizon as the digital ruble, Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), edges […]

68 news.bitcoin.com
скрыть