8 Can the Blockchain Keep a Secret?
This chapter covers:
- Identifying types of sensitive data encountered in DApps and how to safeguard it
- Choosing the correct levels of transparency without compromising privacy
- Standing up your first Hyperledger Fabric network
- Using on-chain and off-chain techniques to protect privacy
“When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.”
― David Brin
“Spying among friends is never acceptable.”
― Angela Merkel
What is privacy? Without going into long, convoluted deliberations, we’ll simply assert that privacy is the ability to withhold information about oneself. When it comes to blockchains, there is an inherent tension between the desire to provide transparency and that of preserving privacy. The philosophical underpinnings of blockchains emphasize transparency -- the ability to monitor other nodes’ actions is core to DApps.