The Dutch firm ING Bank announced on October 21st the launch of a new protocol that improves the privacy of data for customers.
They called this solution “Zero-Knowledge Range Test” (ZKRP). This is a consequence of the similar solution launched last year by the company. Both aim to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to the use of blockchain in financial services, i.e. the protection of data privacy.
In this sense, ING’s Director of Wholesale Banking Innovation, Annerie Vreugdenhil, stated that “our general objective with distributed ledger technology and specifically blockchain is to create solutions that allow our clients to transform their business models. One of the key elements in this process for clients is how to deal with data and privacy.”
This new system validates users’ information, not asking for the exact number of some confidential data, such as the salary, but rather requesting a range of numbers that contains the real value.
But it is not restricted to numbers only. ZKSM includes other types of information, such as locations and names. In other words, this technology allows information to be shared without revealing contextual details. “This makes the new ZKSM protocol more powerful,” says the company.
Additionally, the ZKSM solution was designed in the Ethereum network. But its developers claim that it is much more efficient than current solutions.
“At ING, we are lucky to have some of the best minds in the industry working on our program,” Annerie said. “We are excited about our innovative solution is ready to be implemented and tested.”
By Emanuel Andrade
