Every time you browse the web, stream movies, shop online, or use social media, you share pieces of your personal information. These data are collected, analyzed, and sold for advertising, political influence, artificial intelligence datasets, and more. Despite this rampant data exchange, tech expert Sachin Kumar believes digital privacy is still achievable.
Kumar, a software engineer specializing in cryptography and blockchain, sees privacy as a fundamental human right. She advocates for decentralized systems where individuals control their data, not corporations. This approach would ideally shift tech companies from data harvesting to providing better data security and services.
Discover how Kumar’s work with zero-knowledge proofs is leading to a more secure digital future, as well as her thoughts on digital privacy and how you can protect your personal information.
Sachin Kumar on Digital Privacy
Sachin Kumar is a leading figure in digital privacy, with a rich background in cryptography and blockchain technology. After earning her Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering with a minor in Computer Science from NIT Trichy, her tech career began with a competitive internship as a software development engineer at Amazon India.
Transitioning to the blockchain industry, Kumar honed her expertise while working with zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), a cryptographic technique that allows one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. This is a powerful tool for maintaining privacy and security in various digital interactions, and Kumar’s work earned her a grant from the Ethereum Foundation for her project zkp2p, a peer-to-peer system that helps make private transactions easier. This project enhances privacy, scalability, and trust in blockchain networks to promote wider adoption in the industry.
In December 2023, Kumar co-founded P2P Labs to expand on her work from zkp2p. P2P Labs aims to develop applications using cryptographic techniques like homomorphic encryption and multiparty computation (which allow for computations on encrypted data without any decryption), as well as the integration of privacy-enhancing technologies into mainstream applications with seamless integration and user-focused design. With continued support from the Ethereum Foundation, P2P Labs is working on improving security and privacy globally.
The Challenges of Digital Privacy
Of course, achieving true digital privacy in this modern age is not really attainable. “Every click, swipe, and tap leaves digital breadcrumbs that can be traced back to the user,” Kumar explains. “Companies and governments have become adept at collecting this information and creating detailed profiles that can be used for various purposes, from targeted advertising to more nefarious activities like surveillance and manipulation.”
According to Kumar, the challenge of achieving digital privacy comes from the internet’s architecture. Most of its services are built on centralized systems where large corporations can collect, store, and process data, which makes it easier for entities to access and exploit personal information.
Encryption and Blockchain Technology
Despite these challenges, Kumar firmly believes that achieving a significant degree of digital privacy is possible. And in her opinion, this can be accomplished through advanced cryptographic techniques such as encryption and blockchain technology.
Encryption converts plaintext information into an encoded format (known as ciphertext), making it unreadable to anyone who does not have the decryption key and preventing unauthorized access. Chances are, you’re already using encryption thanks to modern communication apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, or WeChat. These apps automatically encrypt your messages so that only the intended recipient can read them.
On the other hand, blockchain technology is a secure, decentralized digital ledger that records transactions across many computers. Everyone allowed in the network has access to the same data, and transactions can’t be changed once registered. Besides its use for cryptocurrencies, you can also use it for personal data storage, smart contracts, and identity verification.
For example, you can create a digital identity by uploading your personal information and verifying it with your government-issued ID on a blockchain platform. Once verified, you can use this digital identity to access services like online banking, government services, and healthcare. You control who can view your information by granting temporary access to specific entities. And because blockchain data cannot be changed, your identity information stays secure and reduces the risk of identity theft.
The Path to Better Digital Privacy
Despite the potential benefits of enhanced digital privacy, it’s challenging to implement advanced cryptographic solutions that are still relatively new and require significant expertise to deploy. This is why Kumar continues to focus on research and development in cryptography and blockchain at P2P Labs, aiming to create more secure and user-friendly solutions. At the same time, policymakers are also beginning to recognize the importance of digital privacy, with new regulations aimed at protecting personal data and holding companies accountable for breaches.
The work of experts like Sachin Kumar demonstrates that significant strides can be made in this direction. By being aware of and using these digital privacy tools, individuals can take control of their data and work together to create a safer internet.
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