Buterin urges Ethereum community to prioritize privacy safeguards

Vitalik Buterin warns that privacy is essential to freedom, emphasizing that blind faith in transparency and institutions may lead to long-term risks.

As public and private institutions gain unprecedented access to personal data, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has voiced strong concerns about the erosion of individual privacy. In a blog post dated April 14, Buterin argued that the assumption of good intentions by governments and corporations is no longer realistic, and that privacy must be treated as a fundamental pillar of freedom in the digital age.

Trust in political sanity is fading

In his post, Buterin challenged the belief that global political systems are still grounded in rationality and goodwill. He pointed out that “there is no single major country for which the first assumption is broadly agreed to be true,” referring to the idea that leadership is generally well-intentioned. At the same time, he noted that cultural tolerance is rapidly declining, citing social media trends that normalize harmful behavior. These shifts, he said, make the case for robust privacy protections even stronger.

Buterin also reflected on his own discomfort with being constantly monitored, stating, “Every single action I take outside has some nonzero chance of unexpectedly becoming a public media story.” He rejected the notion that privacy only benefits people operating outside of social norms, adding that “you never know when you will become one of them.”

Privacy under threat from technological advances

The rapid development of technology, including brain-computer interfaces, raises new privacy concerns for the future, according to Buterin. He warned that such systems could eventually allow for direct access to human thoughts, posing risks far beyond current surveillance capabilities. He also criticized automated pricing models that adjust based on personal data, warning that they can exploit individuals by predicting how much they are willing to pay.

Government backdoors seen as unstable

Buterin strongly opposed proposals to include government backdoors in privacy-protecting systems. He stressed that not only governments, but also a wide range of corporate entities have access to sensitive information, especially through Know Your Customer (KYC) systems and financial intermediaries. He warned that data handled by banks, payment processors, and telecom providers is at constant risk of being leaked, abused, or sold. Even trusted institutions can change, leaving past data in the hands of unpredictable successors.

“From the perspective of an individual, if data is taken from them, they have no way to tell if and how it will be abused in the future,” he wrote. His conclusion was clear: collecting as little data as possible is the most secure approach.

Zero-knowledge solutions on the rise

To address these risks, Buterin advocated for technologies like zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs), which allow verification without revealing private information. He highlighted potential use cases such as proof-of-personhood systems that verify uniqueness without identity disclosure, and privacy-preserving transaction tools like Privacy Pools on the Ethereum network.

He also mentioned decentralized anti-fraud tools and provenance-tracking mechanisms that ensure the authenticity of physical goods without compromising privacy. These systems, he said, can form the foundation for a safer digital environment.

In closing, Buterin called for near-term updates to the Ethereum protocol to improve privacy at the base layer, stressing the urgency of adapting the ecosystem to defend individual freedoms in a changing digital world.