A blockchain project says it is giving users full control over their identities as well as their personal and professional connections — and believes its technology has the potential to revolutionize countless industries. Internet of People (IOP) describes current online identity standards as a mess. Although the web is perceived to be a place where anonymity thrives, the project claims it is “virtually impossible to perform any action online with true privacy.” To compound the problem, the process of verifying one’s identity can be complicated — with power resting in the hands of centralized providers. The project intends to upend …

Ethereum (ETH) privacy startup Aztec announced the launch of its zero-knowledge succinct non-Interactive argument of knowledge (SNARKs) generation via a cryptographic ceremony called Ignition. In a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Sept. 15 the startup also announced the closing of its latest round of investment with participation from A.Capital, Coinbase and Libertus Capital. A cryptographic ceremony Per the release, the multi-party computation ceremony is meant “to generate a set of encrypted points which will be used to derive all future Aztec notes.” The process will build an open source “reference string” that the company believes will be used by …

Enterprise blockchain startup Kaleido, a part of ConsenSys’s venture studio, became the first to implement crypto privacy firm QEDIT’s zero-knowledge proof solution. An optional feature QEDIT claims in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Sept. 15 that this partnership with Kaleido will enable its private asset transfer feature as an off-the-shelf option for businesses using the platform. CEO and co-founder of QEDIT Jonathan Rouach added: “Kaleido has played a leading role in accelerating the deployment of enterprise blockchain technology by removing the need for companies to invest significant resources in custom code development. A notable platform Rouach also named …

Finnish peer-to-peer crypto exchange LocalBitcoins has warned users about alleged security risks associated with anonymous browser Tor Browser. On Sept. 9, transactional compliance expert Richard Bensberg tweeted a screenshot of a LocalBitcoins banner warning Tor users about the risk of losing their Bitcoins (BTC), which stated: “Warning to all Tor users: A Tor browser exposes you to the risk of having your bitcoins stolen.” LocalBitcoins then responded to Bensberg, saying that while using Tor Browser is not against its terms of service, it does not recommend it for security reasons. LocalBitcoins did not specify why the browser makes users more …

From speculation about its inherent value to theories about it being the payment method of choice for criminals, cryptocurrency is having a tough time keeping a clean name. One of the most common accusations is that cryptocurrencies perpetuate the sale of illicit drugs, a view recently expressed by United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Cointelegraph takes a look at the impact of cryptocurrency on illegal drug sales and whether it should shoulder more of the blame than cash. U.S. government clamps down The watershed moment for the U.S. taking decisive action against illicit drugs being purchased with cryptocurrency happened in …

The individual accused of perpetrating a massive-scale hack of credit card issuer Capital One also allegedly hacked cloud customers’ servers to mine cryptocurrency for herself. Court filings published on Aug. 28 reveal that Paige A. Thompson has been indicted on charges of both perpetrating the Capital One breach and of hacking into the servers of her employer’s cloud services customers for the purposes of cryptojacking. “Cryptojacking” is an industry term for stealth crypto mining attacks which work by installing malware or otherwise gaining access to a computer’s processing power to mine for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge. The …

Stolen funds represent only 8.1% of all funds sent to cryptocurrency mixers, according to New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Primary use for privacy reasons According to a recent Chainalysis webinar, the majority of funds sent to cryptocurrency mixing services or tumblers comes from exchanges, which indicates that such funds are primarily used for privacy purposes rather than for illicit activities. Conducted on Aug. 14, the webinar called “Cryptocurrency Typologies: What You Should Know About Who’s Who on the Blockchains” covers a large number of risk typologies in crypto industry, including darknet markets, terrorist financing, sanctioned cryptocurrency addresses, stolen funds, …

A Los Angeles man has pleaded guilty to running a $25 million Bitcoin (BTC) money laundering scheme and selling methamphetamine. Possible life sentence News outlet U.S. News reported on Aug. 23 that Kunal Kalra has pleaded guilty to charges including money laundering and distributing methamphetamines. The 25-year-old is facing life in prison. The authorities say that, from 2015 to 2017, Kalra exchanged BTC and dollars, ran a Bitcoin ATM, and admitted to making deals with drug dealers and other criminals. Sold meth to an undercover agent Kalra also sold two pounds of meth to an undercover law enforcement agent. According …

FaceApp — the mobile application that has blown up your Instagram feed with pictures of your followers as old people, the opposite gender or babies — has raised a lot of concerns about potential privacy violations for users that upload their photos to be edited. Rumors have circulated that the application might even be taking users’ photos from their phones and uploading them to the FaceApp cloud server without explicit permission. We reached out to experts in security and data privacy from academia, government agencies, startups and more to comment on the issues surrounding users’ privacy, asking them their opinions …

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, has signaled a new push in the United States to strengthen and broaden privacy regulations, similar to the trends seen in the European Union through the passage and implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The CCPA affords covered consumers new privacy rights not otherwise enjoyed here in the U.S. Under the CCPA, an entity qualifying as a “business” must provide: Abbreviated disclosures regarding the personal information that is collected from or about covered consumers (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100). Certain other expanded …

A Singaporean startup, Limestone Network, is using blockchain to sustain a smart neighbourhood at the heart of the Cambodian capital. As Tech in Asia reports on August 14, the 100-hectare mixed-use development in Phnom Penh encompasses residential properties, offices, retail centers, schools and a large-scale exhibition hall: it counts 10,000 business tenants and a daily population of 190,000. Limestone emerged from the first round of startups in the Singaporean government’s blockchain Tribe Accelerator, backed by government agency Enterprise Singapore. Digital passports and wallets At the heart of the Phnom Penh project is a blockchain-powered ID system, which creates a digital …

Ubiquitous tech behemoth Google cloud wing is entering into another partnership with a blockchain platform, Cypherium. Cypherium announced the new partnership in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Aug. 13. Cypherium describes its product, Cypherium Enterprise, as an enterprise-focused blockchain platform with a focus on scalability and decentralization. As a result of this partnership, Google Cloud customers will have access to Cypherium’s blockchain solutions, the announcement explains. As per the press release, Cypherium purports to offer an enterprise blockchain that supports thousands of transactions per second, in addition to confidentiality and blockchain interoperability. Cypherium CEO Sky Guo remarked: “We’re …