The Ethereum Foundation, which oversees the Ethereum network’s development, has announced the creation of a ‘Privacy Cluster.’ This group consists of 47 industry experts dedicated to integrating privacy features into the layer-1 smart contract platform.

The Privacy Cluster is composed of researchers, engineers, and cryptographers focusing on protocol-level privacy innovations, such as private payments and decentralized identity solutions, as stated in a recent announcement.

In September, the Foundation introduced Privacy Stewards for Ethereum (PSE), a research and development initiative centered around privacy. The newly formed Privacy Cluster will collaborate with the PSE to enhance privacy-preserving features.

Among the developments under consideration are zero-knowledge infrastructure, enabling verification of information without disclosing its specifics, confidential transactions on the PlasmaFold layer-2 network, and mechanisms to prevent RPC nodes from sharing user metadata.

The emphasis on privacy is deeply rooted in the cypherpunk ethos driving cryptocurrencies and data encryption. It has gained traction in the crypto community due to the rise of advanced digital surveillance techniques and their implications for individual freedoms.

“You cannot make society secure by making people insecure. We all deserve privacy and security, without inevitably hackable backdoors, for our private communications,” said Vitalik Buterin. “No puedes hacer que la sociedad sea segura haciéndole insegura a la gente. Todos merecemos privacidad y seguridad, sin puertas traseras que inevitablemente puedan ser hackeadas, para nuestras comunicaciones privadas.”

David Holtzman, former military intelligence officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Naoris, remarked that information kept on centralized servers poses a significant risk for hackers and cybercriminals.

Discord has recently faced a cyberattack, where user age verification photos and government-issued identification documents were compromised. Hackers have threatened to leak information of approximately 2.1 million users if their ransom demands are not satisfied.