Amid the rise of AI and surveillance technology, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, advocates for strengthening privacy measurements to ensure decentralization.
The world is changing at a dizzy pace. Artificial intelligence is moving forward faster than most of us can keep up, and, as we know, is reshaping almost every aspect of life. In addition to this rise in AI, concerns are rising: privacy.
When it comes to cryptocurrencies, privacy is always a bit complicated to say the least. It’s endlessly discussed – sometimes heated – never actually resolved.
In a recent blog post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shares his thoughts on why privacy is more important than ever, meaning that it is to ensure that power is not in the wrong hands.
As Buterin points out, progress has moved to the point where society may literally talk about AI reading people’s minds, and it has had this very vast impact. Society, he adds, could face the future in which people’s most personal data – the thoughts are analyzed and used against them.
“AI will dramatically increase the capabilities of centralized data collection and analysis, and greatly expand the scope of data to be shared spontaneously. In the future, new technologies like brain computer interfaces will pose even more challenges.
Vitalik Buterin
“Defining the challenges of our times”
And it’s not just technology itself. Buterin highlights the risks associated with geopolitics and power dynamics. He pointed out there is no shortage of entities holding your personal information, from payment processors to telecom companies.
“In general, all of these entities police at a rigorous level sufficient to ensure that they are taking truly high levels of care for their user data, and are very labor-intensive on both the watchers and the watch, so it can be consistent to maintain a competitive free market.”
Vitalik Buterin
To make matters even more accessible, the government is not always so reliable. The founder of Ethereum points out that a regime that appears to be stable and respectful of today’s privacy may not be that way tomorrow.
In an interview with Crypto.News, Ari Redbord, TRM Global Head of Policy Head, former federal prosecutor and senior U.S. Treasury officials, he acknowledged that Crypto’s balance of privacy and security has become “one of the crucial challenges of our time.”
“After 9/11, there was discussion in airports and public spaces. Today, it’s happening with blockchain. The goal is to protect the right of legal users to personally trade, while preventing fraudulent regimes, fraudsters and cartels to prevent illegal regimes, fraudsters and cartels from moving illegal funds.”
Ali Redboard
You might like it too: Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, proposes a simplified Layer-1 privacy roadmap
“It’s not a security and privacy choice.”
Despite the risks, butaline already believes there is a solution. One is zero knowledge evidence of a person who identifies a person’s unique individual without revealing personal details. The other is a privacy pool, allowing users to prove that their funds are clean without revealing their private data. At the time of spending, users can indicate that the coin does not come from known hacks or thefts. Buterin added that privacy pools like Railgun are already in use.
But that’s not all. Canadian computer programmers also mention anti-fulard scanning of devices that scan incoming messages for fraud and false information without compromising privacy.
When asked whether privacy-focused technology could be exploited by cybercriminals, Redboard said the issue wasn’t about choosing between privacy and security, and not about “building with both in mind.”
“With tools like blockchain intelligence, zero knowledge proof, digital identity, privacy protocols, smart contracts, and more, you can thread that needle to build an open and secure financial system. In fact, it’s not a security and privacy choice when it comes to blockchain.
Ali Redboard
By addressing proof of source of physical items, Buterin suggests that by using blockchain and zero knowledge proof, customers can track product manufacturing history and environmental impacts without revealing the complete supply chain, and price environmental externalities without revealing the supply chain publicly.
Buterin believes the big picture, “The most pressing risk of short-range technology is that privacy is approaching history’s lowest lows, in a very disproportionate way that ensures that the most powerful individuals and the most powerful countries get a lot of data for everyone and that no one else sees it.” That’s why he advocates privacy for everyone and makes the right tools an open source, universal, reliable, safe “one of the key challenges of our time.”
read more: Vitalik Buterin responds to security concerns regarding new Pectra upgrades
