Aztec launches StealthNote app with zero-knowledge-proof privacy

Aztec Labs, the developer behind the Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) layer 2 Aztec Network, has introduced StealthNote, a whistleblowing platform designed to protect the identity of corporate insiders while verifying their affiliation with specific companies.

StealthNote uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) to confirm that posts originate from individuals with access to a company email domain without revealing any personal information.

According to Aztec Labs developer Saleel Pichen, the platform creates a zero-knowledge proof of a Google JSON Web Token, allowing authentication of users’ company email ownership while maintaining anonymity.

The project has been in development since at least October 2022, with the first test post made by Aztec Labs about three months ago, according to Aztec’s documentation.

Users from organisations such as the Ethereum Foundation, StarkWare, Scroll, as well as Columbia and Cornell universities, have posted on StealthNote, often sharing greetings and expressing support for privacy technologies.

“Let’s make privacy cool again,” one user from Nim Network commented.

The use of ZK-proofs as a privacy tool has grown amid rising concerns about data security and government surveillance.

Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin recently highlighted these concerns in an April 14 blog post, criticising the assumption that governments act with good intentions when compromising privacy for transparency.

Buterin advocated for zero-knowledge proofs as a way to balance transparency with privacy by enabling “fine-grained control of who can see what information.”

Aztec Network, focused on privacy solutions, launched on Ethereum in February 2020.

In December 2022, Aztec Labs secured $100 million in Series B funding led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from A Capital and King River.

StealthNote represents an application of zero-knowledge technology aimed at providing whistleblowers and employees a secure channel to report concerns without risking exposure.