The TCN protocol is open source, free and does not sacrifice user data. Experts see tracking as a critical tool in the battle against the coronavirus.
In its report for the first quarter of 2020, the Zcash Foundation reported the advances that it has been working on. The company acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost the entire cryptocurrency industry, but its projects continue to advance given the remote work that characterizes them. Zcash notes that it has taken advantage of its privacy-based network to develop a coronavirus-infected people tracking application, which preserves personal data.
In the document titled “Zcash Foundation Q1 2020 Report”, published on April 17th, the company highlights that it developed a free and open-source application as part of the fight against the coronavirus. The foundation has been working on this project as part of the TCN (Temporary Contact Number) coalition group, with collaborators from around the world that have joined to design, implement and deploy the monitoring of contacts without surveillance, always preserving user data.
Experts see contact tracking as a critical tool in the battle against the coronavirus. The system creates an anonymous temporary contact number to privately record interactions between compatible mobile devices without allowing anyone to track them. To achieve its objectives, the foundation has appealed to the world’s leading technology companies, application developers, and governments to implement applications that are compatible with TCN’s shared protocol.
Regarding Zcash’s solution to tracking the coronavirus, blockchain solutions expert Sydney Ifergan said that people need contact tracking technologies that do not steal private data. It is necessary to think beyond the pandemic. He considers that it is good that the Zcash Foundation is part of the search for unsupervised contacts in the TCN Coalition.
As people connect over time, their interactions are anonymously linked to each other. Anyone testing positive for Covid-19 can report it through the application without revealing his or her identity.
Network Updates
The report for the first quarter of the year shares several updates on the projects that the company is working on. Among them are the advances in Zebra, cross-chain integration, and research on privacy and development enhancements.
Concerning work on Zebra, the node client compatible with the Zcash consensus, the company details that it is still working on it and is expecting the NU3 hard fork. It was initially scheduled for April 2020, but it was postponed to July. However, the report clarifies that the company will announce the date later with a new road map.
Regarding the ZecWallet project, the foundation reported that it is still working on the development of the lightweight wallet version, which allows Zcash users to protect their ZEC tokens. Last January, the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the company behind the development of the Zcash project, enabled new libraries to integrate shielded transactions with Z addresses on Android and iOS mobile devices.
Finally, the report provides an update on the current state of the budget and the financing options for the project. The new Zcash Foundation budget outlines about USD 2.68 million in expenditure compared to the previous figure of USD 3.24 million. The Foundation currently has about 101,000 ZEC, 42 Bitcoin (BTC), and USD 4 million in cash, according to the report.
By Alexander Salazar
