The European Union is famous for its ambivalent relationship with privacy – on the one hand, it is the first place in the world to implement strict data protection regulations. On the other hand, the central bank digital currency (CBDC) project does not have the anonymity standard of private cryptocurrencies.
However, last week EU parliamentarians made an important step to enforce privacy in the digital identity space of citizens. On February 9, the Industry, Research and Energy Committee included a zero-knowledge proof standard in an amendment to the European digital identity (eID) framework. The latest update was voted down by 55 votes to 8 in the Committee – the draft will now go to the Trilogue stage of negotiations.
While the latest draft is still not publicly available, the press release specifies that EU citizens will be given full control over their data and the choice to decide what information to share and with whom:
“The new EID will allow citizens to identify and authenticate themselves online (via the European digital identity wallet) without having to use commercial providers, as is the case today – a practice that improves trust, security and privacy.”
As Jonas Fredriksen, Senior Director for EU Government Affairs at Circle noted on Twitter:
“The proposal will facilitate the emergence of new business models and opportunities in the digital economy, as companies develop innovative products and services that rely on zero-knowledge evidence and eID solutions.”
Zero-knowledge proofs have recently become the focus of researchers’ attention as a possible way to ensure regulatory compliance and privacy in digital currencies.
Joint paper by the San Francisco-based Mina Foundation, operator of the Mina Protocol; German bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe; and the Interdisciplinary Center for Security, Reliability and Trust of the University of Luxembourg showed how zero proof can be connected to the European eIDAS electronic identity system.
related: Polygon tests zero knowledge rollup, incoming mainnet integration
However, not everyone is convinced of the solution. Writing for Cointelegraph, Balázs Némethi, CEO of Veri Labs and co-founder of kycDAO, stated that proof alone is not enough, and sharing personal information between transaction participants is important, relying only on off-chain solutions. .