Privacy Through Computation
Traditional privacy relies on restricting information access. Papillae uses a fundamentally different approach: privacy through cryptographic computation. Instead of hiding data, we use mathematics to prove statements about data without revealing the data itself.
Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK-Proofs): At the core of Papillae is zero-knowledge cryptography. These are mathematical proofs that allow one party (the prover) to convince another party (the verifier) that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the statement’s validity.
Example: Imagine proving you have sufficient balance to make a payment without revealing your actual balance. With ZK-proofs, you can generate a mathematical proof that “my balance ≥ payment amount” is true, without disclosing your balance or any other information.
The Proving Process:
Private Input: User provides secret information (balance, amount, keys) to a proving algorithm running locally on their device
Computation: The algorithm performs complex mathematical operations to generate a proof
Public Proof: A compact proof is generated (typically just a few hundred bytes) that can be verified by anyone
Verification: The smart contract verifies the proof mathematically, confirming the transaction is valid without learning any private information
Why This Works: The mathematical properties of elliptic curve cryptography and polynomial commitments make it computationally infeasible to generate fake proofs, while keeping proof sizes small and verification fast.
Last updated