Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has reinforced the importance of privacy in the development of blockchain solutions.
In a new publication entitled “Why I Support Privacy”, Buterin criticizes the idea that absolute transparency is a requirement for good intentions and proposes technical ways to preserve sensitive user data.
The developer divides his vision into three main points: privacy as freedom, as order and as progress. He argues that protecting privacy means giving people the space to live autonomously, ensuring the functioning of basic social mechanisms and driving technological innovations safely.
For Buterin, privacy is also essential to preserving decentralization. “Whoever holds the information holds the power,” he wrote, warning that centralized control of data poses both social and political risks.
The Ethereum founder also highlighted the dangers of excessive data collection by private companies and governments. He mentioned cases where his own privacy was violated with photos taken without consent in public places and pointed out that the exposure of sensitive data is likely to intensify with the advancement of technologies such as brain-computer interfaces.
Another example of risk cited by Buterin is the dynamic pricing model, where companies use personal data to estimate how much a consumer would be willing to pay. According to him, this reinforces the urgency of limiting the storage of information from the beginning.
Addressing compliance systems such as KYC (Know Your Customer), Buterin criticized the widespread circulation of data between banks, payment processors and other intermediaries, saying that even trustworthy governments can eventually become abusive with their control of information.
In response to privacy challenges in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Buterin presented solutions based on so-called zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs). This technology allows information to be validated without revealing the data itself, which guarantees greater security and control for the user.
Identity verification systems based on ZK proofs, transaction anonymization in Ethereum and anti-fraud traceability for physical objects are some of the applications he mentioned.
With these tools, Buterin believes it is possible to balance privacy and regulatory compliance, without compromising the decentralization of cryptocurrencies.