The Ethereum Foundation, responsible for the Ethereum network’s development, has launched the “Privacy Cluster,” comprising 47 experts from the blockchain sector dedicated to integrating privacy features into the layer-1 smart contract platform.
This privacy cluster unites researchers, engineers, and cryptographers to create protocol-level privacy functionalities, including private payments and decentralized identity solutions, as stated in a Wednesday announcement.
In September, the Foundation introduced Privacy Stewards for Ethereum (PSE), a privacy-centric research and development initiative, which will collaborate with the Privacy Cluster to implement privacy-preserving improvements.
These improvements include the development of zero-knowledge infrastructure, enabling verification of information without revealing its contents, confidential transfers through the PlasmaFold layer-2 network, and hindering remote procedure call (RPC) nodes from passing along user metadata.
Privacy remains crucial to the cypherpunk philosophy that supports cryptocurrencies and data encryption, receiving renewed emphasis in the crypto community due to the escalating complexity of digital surveillance methods and their implications for individual freedom.
Related: Vitalik condemns EU’s Chat Control: ‘We all deserve privacy and security’
The significance of privacy intensifies in 2025
The crypto industry has renewed its focus on privacy as global governments heighten financial surveillance of citizens, while artificial intelligence presents a new threat to user privacy.
The European Union’s proposed Chat Control law, which would grant European governments unfettered access to all messaging traffic, could accelerate the adoption of Web3 alternatives as users prioritize privacy and control over their data.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin encouraged the crypto community to “combat Chat Control,” highlighting the potential for data misuse or the exposure of sensitive user information through cyber breaches.
“You cannot make society secure by making people insecure. We all deserve privacy and security, without inevitably hackable backdoors, for our private communications,” Buterin stated.
Data stored on centralized servers becomes a target for hackers and cybercriminals, according to David Holtzman, a former military intelligence expert and chief strategy officer of the Naoris decentralized security protocol.
The online communication platform Discord recently fell victim to hackers who accessed a database containing user age verification photos, including government-issued IDs and passports, on Wednesday.
The hackers are seeking to extort the platform, threatening to leak the information of approximately 2.1 million users if their ransom demands are not fulfilled.
Magazine: EU’s privacy-threatening Chat Control bill stalled — but the fight continues
