Vitalik Buterin Declares Privacy the Foundation of Freedom

Privacy plays a crucial role in maintaining decentralisation and freedom, ensuring order, and stimulating progress. This was stated by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in his blog.

“Whoever controls information holds power. If data is centrally controlled, it threatens freedom,” he believes.

Why Privacy Matters

In the past, privacy was underestimated in the crypto industry: before the advent of ZK-proofs, there was no way to ensure it without trusting third parties, Buterin noted. However, technology has changed, and threats have become more serious.

Artificial intelligence and neural interfaces collect vast amounts of data. In the future, companies and governments may even analyse people’s thoughts. To avoid total control, Buterin suggests more active implementation of cryptographic tools:

• ZK-SNARKs — prove facts without revealing data;
• FHE (fully homomorphic encryption) — allows processing of encrypted information;
• Obfuscation — complicates program analysis.

Privacy and Outdated Ideals

Buterin wrote that privacy is key to preserving personal freedom and protection from the influence of corporations and states. According to him, the idea of complete transparency in society is beneficial but no longer works.

“We assume that world leaders are rational and perform their roles with good intentions. But this belief no longer holds up,” he explained.

According to Buterin, cultural tolerance in the world is regressing, and trust in political leadership is declining. As an example, he pointed out that in large countries, few people consider the leadership reasonable.

Personal Experience

Buterin admitted to feeling discomfort due to a lack of privacy. He noted that every action could unexpectedly become a headline in the media.

He pointed out that privacy is not only a protection for those who do not conform to societal norms:

“No one is immune from suddenly being in the spotlight.”

Why “Backdoors for Intelligence Agencies” Are a Bad Idea

Some propose giving law enforcement access to user data “to combat crime.” Buterin explained why this is dangerous:

• data is sold;
• databases are hacked;
• power changes.

“Historically, privacy is the norm. The panic around the ‘era of total surveillance’ is artificial,” he noted.

Privacy Supports Order

Secret voting is one example of how privacy protects democracy, Buterin believes. In his view, in open elections, voters would be easier to bribe or intimidate. The same principle applies in other areas, the developer emphasised.

“If privacy disappears, society will plunge into a chaos of manipulation,” Buterin warned.

Privacy Accelerates Progress

The Ethereum co-founder noted that medicine, science, and technology require data exchange, but people are afraid to disclose personal information. In his opinion, cryptography can help solve the problem:

• ZK-proofs allow verification of age or citizenship without revealing identity;
• Privacy Pools hide transactions but exclude hackers;
• local data analysis (as in ChatGPT) reduces leakage risks.

Possible Solutions

Buterin suggests:

• using ZK-SNARKs, FHE, MPC;
• developing local computing — the less data goes to the cloud, the better;
• demanding transparency of devices — neural interfaces and cameras should be verifiable.

“We can achieve a world where technology protects privacy, not destroys it,” he concluded.

Earlier in April, Buterin stated that Ethereum applications require “a good social philosophy” more than the blockchain infrastructure itself. He cited Railgun, Farcaster, Polymarket, and the Signal messenger as examples of such projects.