Thread by @ProtocolVoid

Privacy and the End User🌑

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#Privacy gives us power over our own thoughts, feelings and actions, and when personal information is disclosed, they become easily influenced and manipulated.

Some people are content to share certain information for the sake of convenience or services. Accepting cookies on a website shares your site viewing data with whoever purchases it, often Facebook/Instagram, which in turn displays targeted ads.

For many, these ads are benign and don’t have much of an influence. For others, they are powerful psychological manipulators that can almost guarantee a purchase. Fortunately, the ‘Reject All’ button exists for those who don’t want to be influenced.

In its current form, financial privacy is reasonably good. Government organisations and financial institutions obviously have access to your data, but there is often very strict regulations about how that data is stored and shared.

Even when financial institutions would like to share your information for marketing or advertising purposes, there is usually a figurative ‘Reject All’ button that can be pressed to keep your information private.

As we move towards decentralisation and blockchain data processing and storage, financial privacy becomes a little more difficult. Information about your transactions is stored in plain sight for anyone to see.

Once somebody knows who a public key belongs to, they can trace all the transactions they have ever made, and will make, back to that person. Unfortunately, for now, there is no ‘Reject All’ button on public #blockchains to keep your data private.

Void Protocol solves this problem on the #Terra Network with its Void Anonymity Pool (VAP). You deposit a set amount of TerraUSD $UST into the pool, then, when you would like to withdraw, the user nominates a brand-new wallet which leaves the funds untraceable to the original.

To start with, leaving your $UST in the pool for a longer period provides both you and others with better anonymity. As TVL rises, the time between your deposit and withdrawal can be shorter, ideally to a point where transfers can be almost immediate and completely untraceable.