Programmable Privacy is the key to Freedom of Transaction

The concept of programmable privacy, fundamental to our digital freedoms today, has its roots in a revolutionary movement that emerged in the late 20th century: the cypherpunks. Born in the early 1990s, the cypherpunk movement was a loose coalition of cryptographers, computer scientists, and privacy advocates who shared a vision of using cryptography to protect individual privacy in the digital age.

"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age." These words, penned in 1993, ignited a revolution. The Cypherpunk Manifesto wasn't just a document—it was a declaration of war against digital tyranny.

Born in the crucible of early internet culture, this radical text laid bare a stark truth: in the coming digital age, privacy would be the ultimate battleground. The cypherpunks, a band of cryptographers and hackers, saw the future clearly. They knew that without strong encryption and anonymous systems, our most basic freedoms would crumble in the face of surveillance capitalism and overreaching governments.

Their solution? Code as the ultimate act of rebellion. The manifesto became the blueprint for a new kind of freedom fighter—one armed with algorithms instead of guns, shielding liberty with layers of impenetrable math.

From this explosive beginning sprang the tools we now depend on: Tor, PGP( Pretty Good Privacy), Bitcoin, and countless other privacy-preserving technologies. Each line of code written in their spirit is a bullet fired in the ongoing war for digital autonomy.

What is Privacy really?

Privacy is a deceptively complex concept, often misunderstood in our hyper-connected world. At its core, privacy is about control—control over your personal information, your choices, interactions, and even your transactions.

Types of privacy by definition:

Information Privacy: The right to keep your data confidential and determine how it's shared.
Communication Privacy: The ability to interact without surveillance or interception.
Physical Privacy: Control over your physical self, including biometric data.
Territorial Privacy: Your right to personal space, both physical and digital.
Decisional Privacy: Freedom to make choices without interference or judgment.

Well, Privacy isn't about having something to hide; it's about having the power to choose what you reveal. It's the difference between a door and a wall—privacy gives you the option to open up or stay closed, on your terms.

How do we interact with Privacy?

In today's hyper-connected world, our digital footprint has become as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. With the average smartphone user juggling a staggering 80 apps, each demanding a slew of permissions, we find ourselves navigating a veritable labyrinth of privacy decisions – a dizzying 800 of them, to be precise.

What can possible go wrong?

Siri users make 1.5 billion voice requests per day, 1.4 billion of which are accidental.

But the privacy challenges don't stop there. Consider the sheer scale of our digital communications – a staggering 306.4 billion emails sent daily, with a mere 1% enjoying the protection of end-to-end encryption. This stark reality underscores the pressing need to take control of our personal information and safeguard our digital privacy.

Can we program Privacy?

Yes!! But!! it's easier said than done. There is a very thin line between being a criminal or freedom fighter.

Let's jump rabbithole of Programmable Privacy!

Programmable Privacy: A decentralized system is said to provide programmable privacy if the system supports application programmability allowing developers to specify data privacy characteristics for inputs of users calling the functionality.

When it comes to building privacy-preserving systems, we find ourselves navigating a complex web of interdependent technologies. It's like a high-stakes game of Jenga, where one wrong move can bring the whole tower crashing down.

We often fall into Programmers Credo: "we BUILD these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they were going to be easy" - let's dive in and explore how we can design for privacy while maintaining the flexibility our users demand.

At the foundation, we have the cryptographic schemes that enable privacy such as:

Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), 
Multi-Party Computation (MPC), 
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), and 
Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). 

These are the building blocks that allow us to keep sensitive information under lock and key, even as we process it. And the good news is, these techniques are becoming more practical and efficient every day, opening up huge possibilities.

But it's not as simple as just picking a cryptographic scheme and running with it. Oh no, we've got layers upon layers to consider. There's the way we represent the problem - the "circuit," as it's known - which can take on various forms depending on the cryptographic primitive. Then there's the compiler, which bridges the gap between our high-level application logic and the low-level cryptographic constructs.

And let's not forget the domain-specific language (DSL) we use to write our programs. This needs to be carefully crafted to understand the cryptographic challenges we're facing and minimize the potential for vulnerabilities. It's like trying to teach a toddler advanced calculus - we need to find the right balance of power and simplicity.

Finally, we reach the protocol layer, which is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we define how users interact with our applications, the data they access, and how everything fits together. It's the glue that holds the whole system together, and it needs to be designed with privacy and security in mind from the ground up.

Now, you might be thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of moving parts! How am I supposed to keep track of it all?" And you'd be right to feel that way. But that's where the real magic happens - finding ways to abstract away the cryptographic complexity and give developers the tools they need to build amazing privacy-preserving applications.

Protocols like Mina and Aztec have done a fantastic job of this, providing high-level languages that compile down to the necessary low-level representations, without forcing developers to become cryptography experts. It's like having a personal assistant who handles all the nitty-gritty details, leaving you free to focus on the big picture.

On the other hand, some protocols, like Secret Network, still require developers to dive deep into the security considerations of the underlying trusted execution platform. It's like being handed a toolbox full of power tools and being told to build a house without any instructions. If nothing happens to me I think it is "Not exactly the most user-friendly approach".

So, what's the solution? Well, dear fellows, that's where the real deal lies. We need to find ways to encapsulate those complex cryptographic best practices into our front-end languages, UI/UX and making it easy for developers to create privacy-preserving applications without getting bogged down in the technical details.

It's a delicate balance, to be sure, but one that's absolutely essential if we want to unlock the full potential of programmable privacy-preserving systems. And who knows, maybe in the process, we'll even discover a few new Jenga moves that'll leave our users or developers in awe. Stay excited!

For more details, I highly recommend to listen zk Pod and read paper (SoK) :Programmable Privacy with Ying Tong and Bryan Gillespie

Digital Freedom and Right to be Private

For years, tech giants like Apple have positioned themselves as champions of user privacy, touting features like end-to-end encryption and strict data collection policies. However, the search results reveal a more complex reality. While Apple has taken steps to limit third-party tracking on its platforms, it has also been accused of exploiting its own first-party data to bolster its advertising business, creating a "privacy paradox" where user data is still being monetized, just under Apple's own terms.

Apple's advertising business has more than tripled its market share since it rolled out the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) program in April 2021, which requires app developers to get user consent before tracking them across the web.

The search results highlight how Apple's move to restrict third-party tracking on iOS has allowed it to consolidate power and increase its own market share in the digital advertising space, at the expense of smaller players. This raises concerns about whether Apple's privacy initiatives are truly driven by a commitment to user rights or by a desire to maintain control over the digital ecosystem.

More on Apple DSA Transperancy report, EU’s Digital Services Act and Regulations.

The Cypherpunk Response: Decentralized Privacy

The cypherpunk movement has long championed a radically different vision for digital privacy – one that is decentralized, permissionless, and resistant to the control of any single entity. Blockchain-based technologies have emerged as a key battleground in this fight, offering a new paradigm for data ownership and privacy protection.

Protocols like Zcash, Mina and Aztec have pioneered the use of advanced cryptographic techniques, such as zero-knowledge proofs, to enable privacy-preserving computations and data sharing without compromising user control. These systems abstract away the technical complexities, empowering developers to build applications that respect user privacy by design.

In contrast to the walled gardens of big tech, these blockchain-based solutions offer a more decentralized and user-centric approach to digital privacy. By distributing power and control across a network of nodes, they aim to prevent any single entity, whether it's a government or a corporate behemoth, from wielding unilateral authority over user data.

As the battle for digital privacy rages on, it's clear that the future will require a delicate balance between the convenience and scale offered by big tech platforms and the user autonomy and privacy guarantees of decentralized blockchain solutions.

The search results suggest that while Apple and other tech giants have made some progress in addressing privacy concerns, their actions are often driven by a desire to maintain their own dominance, rather than a genuine commitment to user empowerment. Blockchain-based alternatives, on the other hand, offer a more radical vision for digital freedom, but may still face challenges in terms of mainstream adoption and usability.

The path forward will likely involve a combination of regulatory oversight, technological innovation, and user education – a multi-pronged approach that ensures digital privacy is not just a marketing slogan, but a fundamental right that is actively protected and preserved in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

The Denationalization of Money: Freedom of Transaction

The story of corruption in the banking industry is one that has played out time and time again, with the HSBC scandal serving as a prime example. In 2012, it was revealed that the British multinational bank had been allowing drug cartels and terrorists to launder money through its accounts, a practice that had been going on for years. The scandal highlighted the systemic issues plaguing the traditional financial system, where banks have become too big to fail and too powerful to be held accountable.

But the roots of this problem can be traced back much further, to the very foundations of our current monetary system. In his book "The Denationalization of Money," economist Friedrich Hayek argued that the government's monopoly on currency creation was a recipe for disaster, leading to inflation, economic instability, and, inevitably, corruption. Hayek believed that a decentralized system of competing private currencies would be more efficient and less prone to abuse.

Fast forward to today, and Hayek's vision is starting to take shape in the form of decentralized finance (DeFi). Built on blockchain technology, DeFi offers a radically different approach to finance, one that is transparent, permissionless, and resistant to the influence of powerful institutions. By removing the need for intermediaries and centralizing power, DeFi has the potential to create a more equitable and trustworthy financial system.

However, the path to a truly decentralized economy is not unicorn and rainbows. Regulators are struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation, and there are concerns about the potential for abuse and manipulation in the largely unregulated DeFi space. ( Tether Case ) But proponents of DeFi argue that the benefits of transparency and accountability outweigh the risks, and that the technology will ultimately lead to a more stable and resilient financial system.

As the battle between centralized and decentralized finance continues, the promise of DeFi lies in its ability to empower users and respect the regulatory landscape. By striking a delicate balance between user empowerment and regulatory compliance, DeFi can unlock a new era of financial freedom – one where the individual, not the system, is in the driver's seat.

The road ahead may be winding, but the destination is worth the journey. By embracing the power of programmable privacy and regulatory alignment, DeFi can build a financial ecosystem that respects our rights, empowers our choices, and unleashes the full potential of economic liberty.

If you've read this far, you're clearly someone who values privacy. But don't stop here – take action! We're building Own Protocol, an on-chain compliance protocol for Digital Asset Privacy that uses zero-knowledge proofs. This groundbreaking technology empowers you while ensuring compliance with both DeFi platforms and traditional finance. Join us in shaping a future of finance where privacy and compliance coexist.

Follow us on X @theownprotocol and Own Protocol at Linkedin and stay tuned for more tech context.