#BitcoinWithTariffs Vitalik reveals Ethereum's plan to end surveillance

For Vitalik Buterin, privacy must be universal, not selective.

He employs zero-knowledge proofs to reduce data centralization, preventing abuses.

He proposes local computations and verifiable hardware to protect data, even in AI.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, foresees a world where artificial intelligence (AI) can read even human thoughts, and expresses concern about this. Therefore, he proposes a plan to curb digital surveillance, detailed in a publication titled "Why I Support Privacy?".

In his extensive essay, Buterin presents a vision where privacy is understood as a right and as an essential foundation for freedom, social order, and technological progress. Thus, to protect it, he proposes using advanced cryptographic tools such as ZK-SNARKs or zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption (FHE), which allows processing data without decrypting it. All with the idea of returning control to users and preserving decentralization in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

In this way, Buterin connects the present with cypherpunk ideals and evokes a sense of epic continuity, positioning himself as an heir to a historical struggle that aligns with Satoshi Nakamoto's vision. And just as Nakamoto sought with Bitcoin, that is, to liberate finance from centralized control through cryptography, Buterin pursues with Ethereum a privacy that protects individual freedom against surveillance, continuing the legacy of decentralization and autonomy.

"Today, privacy can no longer be ignored," writes Buterin, pointing to the fact that AI has multiplied the capacity for surveillance, and emerging technologies, such as brain-computer interfaces, could even expose our thoughts. In the face of this, Buterin highlights cryptographic advances such as