zkID (Anonymous Credentials), w/ Ying Tong

In this module, Nicolas Mohnblatt and Ying Tong explain the critical need for privacy-preserving digital ID systems using zk-SNARKs. She first covers existing systems, but shows how the methods used are flawed. These existing systems may inadvertently expose linkability and observability, allowing issuers and verifiers to track users across different presentations. The proposed solution, zkID, is a zk-SNARK architecture, which acts as a privacy layer over existing credentials. This method conceals the static signature and data, enabling private, unlinkable presentations to be verified without requiring issuers to change the cryptography underlying their systems. The discussion also covers advanced topics like credential revocation, deniable presentation, the out-of-protocol risks of de-anonymization, and the technical trade-offs between different ZK proof systems and the importance of standardization in the road to wide-scale adoption.