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Professional services giant Deloitte has integrated a privacy solution into its blockchain-powered qualification management platform, called Eduscrypt, in a move to allow for personal data to be sent privately across the blockchain.
In the past, managing professional qualifications has been a timely and costly process. But using blockchain technology, Eduscrypt allows organisations to track, share and validate professional qualifications more quickly. The purpose of the system is to enable businesses to check that job applicants' purported qualifications are real. The problem was that blockchains are typically open to the public, making data available—which wouldn’t do for personal data. And so, Deloitte has had to get creative.
The firm has partnered with Israeli technology startup QEDIT to add its zero-knowledge proof cryptography solution to the Eduscrypt platform. Zero-knowledge proofs are a complex cryptography tool that allows someone to prove that they know a piece of data without revealing the underlying data. They are used by privacy coins, such as Zcash, to make anonymous cryptocurrency transactions.
Antonio Senatore, chief technology officer at Deloitte’s EMEA Blockchain Lab, said, “Integrating QEDIT’s Zero-Knowledge Proof privacy solution ensures that organisations can trust in the authenticity of qualifications, while preserving the full privacy of the underlying data, and upholding regulatory compliance.”
Founded in 2016, QEDIT has developed a privacy protocol that enables users of enterprise blockchains to record and authenticate asset transfers on a shared ledger without revealing underlying or confidential information.
According to QEDIT, network members are able to verify proofs but can’t see who sent what, how much or to whom. The company also helps auditors enable regulatory compliance.
Over the past few months, the firm closed a $10 million investment round led by MizMaa Ventures and has formed partnerships with companies such as VMware, RGAX and Ant Financial.
Deloitte is not the only mainstream company experimenting with this technology. During Devcon 5, in Osaka, Japan, Decrypt revealed that accounting firm Ernst and Young plans to make large strides in the development of zero-knowledge proofs. The race is on to bring privacy to the blockchain.