Blockchain dating and messaging: why we need Crypto privacy services
If there’s one service people are still willing to pay for in this economy … it’s their dating apps from Match group (NASDAQ:MTCH) and peers. But is there a better option for Tinder, Match.com, Hinge or OKCupid users … on the blockchain?
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In a Cointelegraph op / ed yesterday, a crypto-private startup called Session argues that blockchain services can be safer and more secure for online dating. Let’s see how they do it … And the other user cases of blockchain services for privacy that set up compelling investments today.
“The way the Internet works is not good for users’ privacy”
With our current setup, Web 2.0, much of your personal information goes through these apps. Not only do you have to provide your phone number to confirm your identity to the app … After you are matched, a common next step is to let the person call, send a message or send you a message on social media, if they seem cool. Keywords: “seem.”
Harassment is a constant problem online – especially for women, 60% of whom reported unwanted messages in a Pew Research survey. And the more of your “true” identity that goes online … The worse cyber stalking can get.
“Now, [users] “can give a love interest their session ID instead of a phone number or social media account, and keep this personal information private until they want to move on to the next step,” Session suggests in Cointelegraph on / ed Monday.
According to our current privacy standards, people have been blackmailed by using intimate photos and messages … “scammed” and scammed for money by people who are not who they seem to be … suffered from identity theft and have had their devices / accounts compromised by malicious software. Nevertheless, online dating has been the typical way to find a partner for many years now.
Even if you manage to avoid creeps and jerks online … These dating platforms can still be hacked. And niche dating communities can be special targets for hackers who judge members negatively – as Ashley Madison was a few years ago.
Why Blockchain Apps Can Be Safer From Hackers
Of course, you do not need to use only some app to communicate with people online … romantic or otherwise. You can send messages to people with an encrypted app like Signal – which has gone from 20 million users to 40 million in about a year as people have started demanding more privacy.
Because Signal uses end-to-end encryption, your message can only be read by the recipient …
But there are other ways to mess with users. And when a vulnerability was discovered in Signal in 2016, Hacker News noted that Signal’s popularity among “security professionals and privacy advocates” puts it “on the priority list of nation state actors” to hack.
In that bug from 2016, cryptographers found that attackers could target large files forwarded to Signal “to modify a valid attachment by adding random data to it,” reported Ars Technica.
And the only reason this could have worked? Because signal data goes through centralized servers – which attackers must “hack or imitate” to exploit the error.
The Bitcoin (BTC-USD), on the other hand, the network is so decentralized that it has never been hacked. And Bitcoin is getting harder to hack for every “miner” who joins the network: There are around 70,000 of them worldwide, confirming network transactions to receive BTC.
Transactions on Bitcoin – and other public blockchains – are anonymous … But it is worth noting that they are NOT private. Blockchain searchers can identify you by your network transaction trace, which is how the Bitfinex thieves were caught with $ 3.6 billion stolen bitcoin.
So this is where blockchain privacy solutions come in: Take advantage of decentralization, and then create privacy features.
How can privacy work on a blockchain?
Many blockchain projects are popping up to offer privacy features. Before we go into which – here the basic technology is involved:
The original blockchain for privacy, Monero (XMR-USD), uses confidential ring transactions and stealth addresses. Call CTs “can be verified while only sender and recipient see the amount being exchanged,” CoinDesk explains. And the blockchain creates “public one-time keys for each transaction.”
Mix networks take in data packets from different users, “mix” them together and send them in random order. That way, it’s harder to track the transaction when you use a mixer like Tornado Cash. The more people use them, the easier you can “hide in the open”.
Zero proofs are more popular today – but began with an article from 1985 co-author of Silvio Micali from Algorand (ALGO-USD). ZK proof can verify information on the chain, without communicates the information between the parties.
ZK is in a way the new hottie in the new digital world lately: Polygon (MATIC-USD), first, “has made ZK the center of its strategic vision” over the past year “and has committed $ 1 billion to related projects.”
Crypto apps for investors to notice
Polygon ID was just launched on June 23 with its first Web3 authentication service that maintains privacy. Do you know how to “sign in with Google” on all these Web 2.0 sites and apps? What if you could do that without do you sign all your information to Big Tech? Polygon says that it is possible with these zero-knowledge evidence we just talked about.
Next up: Polygon ID wallet (for individuals) and Polygon ID platform (for organizations). There’s also Polygon Nightfall 3, so businesses can move on Ethereum (ETH-USD) private … Without the likes of Tornado Cash, which is popular with money launderers – and as at least one security company, Elliptic, says it can crack.
Private messages on the blockchain are brought to you at Oxen (OXEN-USD) necklace, plus soon on Nym (NYM-USD).
Oxen is where you will find Session (mentioned earlier), as well as Lokinet, which can host “Zoom Video on the blockchain” (private), plus private surfing. The Oxen blockchain began as a “hard fork” of Monero, so it also uses ring CTs and stealth addresses.
Nym uses the “mixnet” technology, with improvements. As with Session, developers work to provide technology for private messaging apps … as well as authentication services … and cryptocurrency transactions. Chelsea Manning has worked on the project as a security expert and privacy advocate.
Also in the category “crypto transactions”: Aztec Connect, where “Private DeFi is coming to Ethereum for the first time ever,” according to the launch announcement on Thursday, July 7. Right now, using DeFi on any public blockchain is a bit like using Venmo in public mode. (Which even Venmo got rid of.)
Do you not want your transactions to be kept private, as in your bank account? ask supporters of private DeFi. When we talk about banks, however, it will be interesting to see how private DeFi can coexist with regulators – who are concerned with bringing know-your-customer (KYC) standards to crypto.
Then it is Basic attention token (BAT-USD), whose blockchain is home to the Brave browser, which gives you “online privacy by default.”
If developers on Oxen, Nym, etc. hope to attract users to a privacy browser there … Brave already passed 50 million monthly active users by January. It pales in comparison to Chrome, Safari or Firefox – but uniquely, Brave has crypto incentives to attract users:
By default, the Brave Browser rips out all the scary ads and trackers from every webpage you visit. It gives you the choice to see Brave Private Ads. If you do, you will be rewarded with Basic Attention Tokens (BAT). If you do not “Brave Browser will always be free and private. Unlike Big Tech ads, Brave Ads does not invade your privacy. Your data never leaves your device,” Brave promises.
If you allow Brave Private Ads, they are not too intrusive, and they boast good engagement statistics (since users can earn BAT tokens). This is how the company makes money – as opposed to, for example, cutting agreements with search pages, as Mozilla Firefox does – along with rising prices on the BAT crypto.
No matter how much users care about crypto, there is another benefit to these privacy browsers: Your page loads faster without the ads (and ad trackers) inside them. BAT has long been a selection in Luke Lango and Charlie Shrem’s portfolios, along with Polygon for their Crypto-investor network. We will make sure to keep you updated on the latest and greatest here The new digital world, also.
At the date of publication, Ashley Cassell (neither directly nor indirectly) held any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, subject to InvestorPlace.com Publication Guidelines. To get more news from The New Digital World sent to your inbox, click here to sign up for the newsletter.
