Glossary_
Master the essential terminology of privacy and security in the digital age.
Privacy
The ability to control who has access to personal information and how it is used.
Anonymity
The state of being unrecognizable or unidentified.
Pseudonymity
The use of a false name, often used to protect identity.
Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP)
A cryptographic protocol that allows one party (the prover) to demonstrate to another party (the verifier) that they know a value, without revealing that value.
Privacy-Preserving Smart Contracts
Smart contracts that use cryptographic techniques to protect the privacy of their users and data.
Private Transactions
Transactions that are conducted off-chain or using privacy-preserving techniques to protect the sender and recipient's identities.
Privacy-Preserving Wallets
Wallets that use cryptographic techniques to protect the privacy of their users.
Privacy-Preserving Oracles
Oracles that provide data to smart contracts without revealing the content of that data.
Stealth Address
Wallet address that is cryptographically tied to ones' public address, but that is only revealed to the parties transacting.
Homomorphic Encryption
A type of encryption that allows arbitrary computations to be performed on encrypted data without decrypting it first.
Fully Homomorphic Encryption
Can perform any computation on encrypted data, not just linear operations.
Secure Multi-Party Computation (MPC)
A cryptographic technique that allows multiple parties to compute a function over their inputs without revealing their individual inputs to each other.
Differential Privacy
A technique that adds noise to data to protect individual privacy while preserving statistical accuracy.
Ring Signatures
A digital signature scheme that allows a group of individuals to sign a message without revealing which member of the group signed it.
Blind Signatures
A signature scheme that allows a signer to sign a message without knowing its contents, providing anonymity for the message sender.
zk-SNARKs
Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge. A type of ZKP that allow one party to prove to another that they know a value without revealing that value or any additional information.
zk-STARKs
Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge. A type of ZKP that is more efficient than zk-SNARKs and does not require a trusted setup.
Bulletproofs
A type of ZKP that is more efficient than zk-SNARKs and zk-STARKs by using range proofs, aggregation, optimized verification, and transparency.
Privacy-Preserving Ethereum Protocols
Protocols such as Aztec Protocol, Tornado Cash, and Railgun that aim to provide privacy for Ethereum transactions.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
A widely used symmetric-key encryption algorithm.
Blowfish
A symmetric-key encryption algorithm known for its speed and security.
Twofish
A symmetric-key encryption algorithm that was a finalist in the AES competition.
Lattice-Based Cryptography
A type of cryptography that is resistant to quantum computing attacks.
Multi-Party Key Escrow
A technique that allows multiple parties to share the responsibility for managing a private key.
Threshold Signatures
A type of signature scheme that allows a group of individuals to sign a message without revealing which member of the group signed it.
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
A type of public-key cryptography that uses points on an elliptic curve for encryption and digital signatures, offering smaller key sizes and faster computations than traditional methods.
Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)
A digital signature algorithm that uses modular exponentiation and discrete logarithms to verify the authenticity of digital documents.
Schnorr Signatures
A type of digital signature scheme that is more efficient and simpler to implement than DSA, often used in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
SHA-256
A widely used cryptographic hash function that produces a 256-bit hash value.
SHA-3
A newer cryptographic hash function selected as the winner of the NIST hash function competition, offering improved security and performance.
BLAKE2
A cryptographic hash function known for its speed and security, often used in various applications, including blockchain technology.
Steganography
A technique for hiding information within other information, making it difficult to detect that it is there.
Watermarking
A technique for embedding a hidden message or identification code within a piece of data.
Oblivious Transfer
A cryptographic protocol that allows two parties to exchange information without either party revealing their information to the other.
Data Minimization
The principle of collecting and processing only the data that is necessary for a specific purpose.
Purpose Limitation
The principle that data should only be used for the purposes for which it was originally collected.
Data Retention Limitation
The principle that data should not be kept for longer than necessary.
Data Integrity
The principle that data should be accurate, complete, and up-to-date.
Data Security
The principle that data should be protected from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
