Google adopts zero-knowledge proof technology to improve privacy in digital identification.
Google has incorporated Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology into its Google Wallet to enhance user privacy within digital identity frameworks.
The company has confirmed the feature’s activation, allowing users to verify their age on various applications and devices without sharing personal information.
As stated by Google:
“We will implement ZKP when suitable in other Google services and collaborate with applications like Bumble, which will utilize digital IDs from Google Wallet for user verification and ZKP for age validation.”
Moreover, the tech giant intends to make its ZKP tools open-source, enabling other wallet providers and developers to embrace privacy-centric authentication methods.
This initiative is part of Google’s drive to establish a privacy-focused identity layer, particularly as increasing online services, including dating apps, necessitate age verification. They noted:
“With many platforms requiring age checks, we aimed to create a system that verifies age while safeguarding your privacy.”
Zero-knowledge proofs serve as cryptographic methods enabling one party to confirm information to another without disclosing the associated data.
Importantly, ZKPs are already utilized within blockchain networks like Cardano and Ethereum for facilitating confidential transactions, identity authentication, and scalable solutions. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has also emphasized their potential in areas such as secure voting, supply chain monitoring, and data protection.
In the meantime, Google’s adoption of ZKPs has garnered appreciation from the crypto community, with many viewing it as a recognition of a technology long supported in the blockchain realm.
Rob Viglione, co-founder of Horizen Labs, expressed that Google’s initiative is “a clear indication that privacy-focused innovations are becoming mainstream and that zero-knowledge will emerge as one of crypto’s most transformative applications for everyday users.”
He continued:
“It’s encouraging to witness leading companies acknowledging that privacy must not be a luxury or an afterthought; it should be a standard practice.”
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