Reclaim Protocol, a Q1 Secret grant recipient, is now live on Secret mainnet! Secret dApps and users can start utilizing this new data proving solution.
Web2 has become well known for its exploitation of user data, and so far Web3 hasn’t been much better. As you interact with websites, they will often store cookies on your device. These cookies are then used by other websites, creating a harmful web of your identity. Additionally, databases of user data are often stored, and sometimes revealed to the public.
Now, imagine a process where users could verify their identity or key data points – without actually revealing it to a site. The app gets a simple “yes” or “no” for the single reputational metric that it needs – nothing more.
Reclaim Protocol does just that – allowing users to prove their data to a website upon explicit consent, without leaking private information.
How Reclaim Protocol Works
Reclaim leverages zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to create secure and private digital signatures that represent a user’s identity and reputation across various online platforms.
ZKPs are a cryptographic proof that allow Bob to prove something is “true” to Alice without having to reveal or “show” the actual data.
The way Reclaim accomplishes this is by routing HTTPS requests and responses through a decentralized network of HTTPS proxies. These proxies cryptographically sign the responses received from websites, attesting to their authenticity. The user’s device then generates a cryptographic proof using the encrypted response and the digital signature. This proof verifies the presence of specific data within the response, such as a bank balance or Uber ride history, without revealing the underlying information itself.
In a world where we want (and need) our apps to communicate with each other, Reclaim enables that connectivity without sacrificing privacy and security.
A Powerful Partnership: Reclaim Protocol x Secret Network
As privacy focused projects – Reclaim and Secret have natural synergy. But Reclaim has expressed special enthusiasm about partnering with Secret for a big reason: secret contracts scale the efficiency of Reclaim’s ZKPs!
When users create a credential with Reclaim, they join a “Merkel tree”. At any point, this Merkel tree represents the set of users who have generated the credential. Now, when interacting with a smart contract, you don’t submit the reclaim proof – but rather a merkel tree membership zkproof.
The Reclaim Protocol team explains how this is made exponentially easier by Secret:
“We are super excited to work with Secret. Because all the transactions are processed inside a TEE, you can submit a Reclaim proof directly to the smart contract you want to interact with – without the additional step of adding yourself to a merkel tree and waiting for enough members to join. All the data to and from the TEEs are encrypted too, so that makes the UX great without compromising security.“
What use cases are possible with Reclaim x Secret?
Reclaim Protocol is live on mainnet and has an SDK for builders. Any Secret dApp can integrate it in order to start utilizing users’ Web2 data, while also keeping that data confidential.
Here are some of the use cases that are possible:
- A unique LP offering for users with a certain audited income
- A gaming app for users over age 21
- Access to a group based on number of social followers
To put it simply, any user data point that an application might want that can be retrieved from a web2 source, Reclaim makes that possible, and does so without anyone other than the user having access to the source data.
The Road Ahead
The launch of Reclaim Protocol on Secret mainnet marks a significant milestone in the evolution of user data ownership. With its innovative approach to data portability, Reclaim Protocol empowers users to reclaim control of their digital identities and navigate the online world with greater autonomy and privacy.
To get involved with the Reclaim community or get in touch with their team, you can follow them on Twitter and join their Telegram group. Developers can also check out their docs and dashboard sites.
Happy building!
Join in on the discussion on the Secret Network community channels!
