BigchainDB and IPDB Meetup Recap: Privacy on the Blockchain
Blockchain technology promises trust in otherwise trustless systems but how much privacy is there really on different decentralized technologies? Three speakers explored privacy on the blockchain at our last meetup, its current state, areas in need of improvement and a look at what’s to come in particular with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which goes into effect next year.
Ben Bollen of Monax kicked off the evening with a surprise lightning talk asking the crowd can permission chains benefit permissionless chains? Do they have to be at odds?
“Can you actually build new networks that have the benefits of having a trustless backbone, like Ethereum, but have the performance and the privacy of permissionless chains?”
Elad Verbin, a computer and data scientist and co-founder of Berlin Innovation Ventures, began his talk by looking at the state of anonymity of the Bitcoin blockchain, arguing that it simply isn’t.
Diving into zero knowledge and multiparty computation, Elad gave some popular examples from Tinder to Gmail and asked how we could make them anonymous or at least enhance security and privacy features.
Looking at blockchain privacy today, Elad describes it as being more of a cabin in the woods than a skyscraper, its true potential, and the chicken and egg problem this presents.
“As long as people don’t know about the availability of this technology or science, they won’t ask for it. As long as they don’t ask for it, it won’t exist. As long as it doesn’t exist, no one will know about it and give services for it, so that’s a problem.”
Watch the video of his full talk below for an in-depth and clear overview of multiparty computation and some real world use cases.
BigchainDB’s Simon Schwerin closed the evening with his talk focusing specifically on how the GDPR will influence blockchain applications and vice versa and how to prepare yourself.
The GDPR aims to harmonize European data protections laws. Simon gave an overview of the history of data protection in the EU, why you should care about the upcoming GDPR and some of the keys changes it will bring.
“Data minimization means you only collect the data that you actually need so in the future when designing your software, you have to define a specific purpose for collecting personal data.”
“Eventually what the GDPR aims to do is give us back our human right to own our personal data because it has been taken from us.”
For presentation slides, visit our SlideShare page. If you’d like to attend an upcoming meetup, join and RSVP here and if you have a topic, company or use case you’d like to present, email us at contact@bigchaindb.com.
