Ruby Protocol — The Minds / The Groups / The Concepts to Follow
“Surveillance is the business model of the internet. We build systems that spy on people in exchange for services. Corporations call it marketing. Governments call it surveillance.”
In today’s digital age, privacy is no longer a peripheral concern but a foundational element of modern technology and governance.
With decentralized technologies and the increasing adoption of Web3, privacy has come to the center of the stage and become a complex technical challenge and a profound philosophical debate.
As we venture into a new world where digital identities, assets, and interactions are recorded on immutable ledgers, understanding how privacy is maintained, protected, and controlled becomes essential for developers, researchers, and users.
At Ruby Protocol, our focus on privacy-preserving infrastructure pushes us to engage in these discussions. The balance between transparency and confidentiality is delicate, requiring careful consideration of cryptographic principles, decentralized identity, and regulatory frameworks. This post offers an introduction to the key minds, organizations, and technical concepts advancing the study and application of privacy in Web3 and beyond.
Through this exploration, we will identify the individuals pioneering privacy research, the organizations leading technological innovations, and the essential concepts — such as zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation (MPC), and differential privacy — that form the backbone of privacy-centric architectures. Whether you are a developer looking to build privacy-focused applications or a user concerned with data sovereignty, these insights will equip you with a deeper understanding of privacy in the decentralized ecosystem.
Join us as we explore the critical thinkers and cutting-edge technologies shaping the future of privacy in the digital age.
Key People to Follow:
Edward Snowden
A former NSA contractor turned whistleblower, Snowden exposed the extensive reach of government surveillance programs. Now an advocate for digital privacy, he speaks and writes on privacy rights and the importance of encryption, emphasizing the need for individuals to protect their personal information in an increasingly surveilled world.
Bruce Schneier
A renowned security technologist and author, Schneier has been a leading voice in cybersecurity and privacy for decades. His books and blog provide deep insights into the technical and policy challenges surrounding data protection, making complex topics accessible to a broad audience.
Matthew Green
A cryptographer and professor at Johns Hopkins University, Green has significantly contributed to the development of privacy-enhancing technologies like Zcash. His research focuses on cryptographic methods that secure communications and data, addressing the ongoing challenges of privacy in the digital age.
Shoshana Zuboff
A professor and author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Zuboff offers a comprehensive examination of how corporations collect and monetize personal data. Her work is crucial for understanding the broader socio-economic implications of privacy erosion and the ethical dilemmas posed by pervasive surveillance.
Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn
Founder of Zcash, a leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency, Wilcox-O’Hearn has been at the forefront of advancing zero-knowledge proofs, which facilitate private transactions on blockchain networks. His work promotes the importance of financial privacy in the digital economy.
Glenn Greenwald
A prominent journalist and constitutional lawyer, Greenwald gained international recognition for his role in reporting on the Snowden revelations. He co-founded The Intercept and has been a vocal advocate for civil liberties, privacy rights, and government accountability, arguing for the necessity of transparency in a democratic society.
Julian Assange
The founder of WikiLeaks, Assange has become a central figure in discussions about transparency, accountability, and the ethics of information dissemination. His organization has published numerous classified documents, exposing government misconduct and human rights abuses, sparking debates about the right to know versus national security. Assange’s work underscores the importance of privacy for whistleblowers and the need for protections against governmental overreach.
Organizations to Follow:
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
The EFF has long been a staunch advocate for digital rights, with a focus on protecting user privacy, free expression, and innovation. The organization actively engages in legal battles and provides educational resources to empower individuals in safeguarding their online data.
The Tor Project
The Tor Project is crucial for users prioritizing online privacy. It enables anonymous web browsing by routing traffic through a decentralized network, thereby obscuring user identities. The organization is dedicated to developing tools that resist surveillance and censorship.
Signal Foundation
Signal has become the preferred messaging app for privacy advocates, utilizing end-to-end encryption to secure communications. The foundation behind Signal is committed to creating open-source technologies that enhance user privacy and promote secure messaging.
Privacy International
This nonprofit organization investigates and addresses privacy violations by governments and corporations. Through research, advocacy, and litigation on a global scale, Privacy International works to ensure that privacy is recognized as a fundamental human right.
Open Privacy
Founded by cryptographer Sarah Jamie Lewis, Open Privacy develops tools aimed at protecting marginalized communities from surveillance. The organization focuses on research and solutions related to anonymous communication and privacy infrastructure.
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT)
The CDT operates at the intersection of privacy, technology, and policy, engaging in advocacy to influence privacy regulations. Their work seeks to maintain a balance between privacy rights, security measures, and free expression.
Zcash Foundation
Zcash stands at the forefront of financial privacy, employing cryptographic techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs to facilitate private transactions on a public blockchain. The Zcash Foundation advocates for the preservation of privacy within the realm of digital assets.
Brave
The Brave browser offers a privacy-focused alternative to mainstream web browsers, featuring built-in ad blocking and tracking protection. Additionally, Brave rewards users with cryptocurrency, positioning itself as a countermeasure to the surveillance economy that pervades the internet.
Concepts and Movements:
Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs)
Zero-Knowledge Proofs are cryptographic techniques that enable an individual to prove the validity of a statement without disclosing any additional information. This technology serves as a foundational element for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, such as Zcash.
Decentralized Identity (DID)
Decentralized Identity is an emerging standard for self-sovereign identity, empowering individuals to manage their identities independently of centralized authorities. This technology is essential for ensuring privacy within Web3 and decentralized ecosystems.
Federated Learning
Federated Learning is a machine learning approach that trains models across decentralized devices or servers, maintaining data privacy by avoiding centralization. This method fosters innovation in AI-driven applications while safeguarding user information.
Homomorphic Encryption
Homomorphic Encryption is an advanced encryption technique that enables computations to be conducted on encrypted data without the need for decryption. This capability holds significant promise for privacy-preserving data analysis and machine learning applications, particularly in fields where sensitive data must be utilized for research or decision-making without compromising individual privacy.
Multi-Party Computation (MPC)
Multi-Party Computation is a cryptographic protocol that facilitates joint computation of a function by multiple parties, while keeping their individual inputs confidential. This technology is critical for privacy-preserving protocols and finds significant applications in secure voting and private financial transactions.
Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)
Self-Sovereign Identity represents a framework in which individuals maintain control over their digital identities without dependence on central authorities. This emerging technology is frequently discussed in the context of decentralized systems, such as blockchain, where trustless identity verification is vital for preserving privacy.
About Us
Ruby Protocol is an Intent-Centric Chain Abstraction Layer for Web3.
We are building an intent-centric, interoperable, and privacy-preserving infrastructure for Web3 future. Our services, including Account Abstraction (AA), Assets Bridge (AB), Access Control (AC) and much more, are designed to accelerate Web3 development and its mass adoption.
We aim to make Web3 seamless and effortless to everyone everywhere.
