Anonymized User Activity Linking via Cryptographic Proofs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blockchain technologies face challenges in linking anonymized user activities while preserving strong privacy guarantees, as they often require revealing true identities to associate multiple pseudonymous activities, which compromises user privacy and introduces issues for businesses in rewarding users without duplicating payments.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using pseudonyms with associated key pairs for user activities, allowing users to perform activities anonymously and link them cryptographically without revealing their true identity, using blockchain and open public decentralized storage to store and verify these activities, ensuring privacy while enabling selective linkability and reward calculations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users perform activities under multiple pseudonyms to maintain privacy, then user privacy is protected, but the ability to link activities to a single user is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cryptographic intermediaries (hash functions, zero-knowledge proofs, and verifiable encryption schemes) that enable indirect linking of pseudonymous activities without revealing the user's true identity. These cryptographic mechanisms act as mediators between the need for privacy protection and the need for activity linkability, allowing verifiers to confirm that multiple pseudonyms belong to the same user through cryptographic proofs without exposing identifying information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes cryptographic parameters and proof types based on the verification needs. Different cryptographic schemes (e.g., zk-SNARKs, ring signatures, confidential transactions) are applied depending on the specific linking requirement, allowing the system to adjust the balance between privacy and linkability by modifying cryptographic parameters rather than fixed structural elements.
2Productivity
If businesses reward users based on identified activities, then user motivation is enhanced, but user identity exposure occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates cryptographic copies of user identity information in the form of verifiable but anonymized proofs. Instead of exposing the original identity, the system generates cryptographic copies (zero-knowledge proofs, hashed identifiers) that contain sufficient information for verification and reward distribution while maintaining the original identity's secrecy. These cryptographic copies can be independently verified without revealing the user's true identity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the identity verification process into separate cryptographic components: activity verification, identity confirmation, and reward distribution. Each segment handles a specific aspect of the interaction, allowing businesses to reward users based on verified activities without consolidating all identity information in a single exposed location. This segmentation enables selective disclosure of information.
3Loss of information
If traditional blockchain stores all user data publicly, then transparency is achieved, but privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different quality levels of data protection to different parts of the blockchain data structure. Sensitive user information is protected with strong cryptographic obfuscation (zero-knowledge proofs, encrypted fields), while non-sensitive metadata remains publicly visible. This local differentiation of data protection quality allows the system to maintain overall transparency while protecting specific privacy-critical elements through tailored cryptographic approaches.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems can prove to an independent verifier that multiple activities registered on decentralized BASE network belong to the same user, without revealing true identity of the user. A selective linkability algorithm provides for linking together activities done under various of user's pseudonyms, without revealing the true user's identity. A reward calculation mechanism calculates a reward based on activities linked using the linking proof. For example, if user can prove that she already successfully completed 10 prior transactions, she might be deemed more valuable to the business making a new offer and hence eligible for a higher reward.