Zero-Knowledge Cryptography

This project focuses on recent advances in cryptography that enable parties to verify statements and share data without revealing any related or underlying data they wish to keep private. Chief among these new technologies is a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP).

A ZKP is a cryptographic technique that enables a prover to assure a verifier that a statement is true without revealing any additional information. For example, a ZKP can enable a supplier to assure a purchaser that the supplier’s production methods meet contract requirements without revealing the actual production methods themselves.

ZKPs are often used to enhance blockchain privacy and scalability. Blockchain themselves can also be used to prove and store verifications on chain.

ZKPs also have direct applications to law and business. ZKPs enable a person (the prover) to assure a verifier that it meets contractual, legal, or other requirements without revealing underlying information such as contract terms, financial data, and protected information. ZKPs can improve compliance with data protection laws and data sharing agreements because they enable parties to interact and transact without sharing protected or confidential information.

ZKP also has important applications to identity management, including compliance with anti-money laundering regulation. As noted by the United States Treasury Department in an April 2023 report, ZKPs can “enable a [decentralized finance] service user to confirm that their identity has been verified without revealing personal information.”

In the context of artificial intelligence, ZKP can be used to verify that digital content and certifications are authentic or human generated. ZKP can also be used to verify that computational results are an output of a particular machine learning model (implementing the concept of verified computation) so that the results can be trusted or otherwise meet requirements.

Innovative technologies that complement ZKP include fully homomorphic encryption (FHE). FHE enables encrypted data to be processed so that when parties use third party data they are unable to view or store any of the data.

This project will produce research, case studies, events, and technology relating to ZKP and complementary technologies.

Project leader: Houman Shadab


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