on the crypto
Privacy tech firm Aleo has launched a data privacy-oriented blockchain and developer kit to make writing zero-knowledge proof in web applications simple and widespread.
The startup is releasing its first round of software tools to allow developers to write private applications for the web using a new programming language called Leo, as well as integrate these tools into existing browser functions.
Zero knowledge proof
Aleo leverages zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), an encryption-based technique that allows two parties on the Internet, such as an app and a user, to verify information with each other without sharing underlying data related to this information.
Access to a website, for example, could take place with a data verification without sharing information such as the password, geolocation data or other information that can be used to discover further details about the user.
Aleo's development toolkit
The initial version of Aleo consists of four different components. There's Aleo Studio, the first integrated development environment (IDE) for writing zero-knowledge privacy-centric applications.
An IDE is a holistic environment in which developers can write computer programs. Aleo Package Manager focuses on the possibility of allowing developers to manage and archive data packages.
Integrated with Aleo Studio, Aleo Package Maneger makes it easier for developers to organize and share their work. SnarkOS is Aleo's decentralized operating system for private web applications and the first implementation of the Aleo protocol.
“It runs a blockchain and supports all kinds of applications,” said co-founder Aleo Howard Wu. “So it's very similar to what people know and love on Ethereum. The idea for us is to use snarkOS as the foundation or backbone of the whole system.
So snarkOS has the purpose of controlling, verifying and storing data in the state. " The last part of Aleo's developer kit is “Aleo Testnet I”, a testnet on snarkOS that allows developers to write and distribute applications.
Developers have to create programs on Aleo's blockchain to use the kit, as Aleo is the foundation for everything else that developers want to build and integrate with. The goal is to establish a strong and private core, so that users can choose whether they want their data to be public or not. The whole goal, however, is for developers to integrate existing apps with Aleo. Existing applications will be able to integrate on Aleo using the normal web paradigms.
Leo: programming privacy in a new language
The company also created a new programming language called "Leo". Wu explained that while Leo looks very similar to JavaScript, he is actually capable of abstracting low-level cryptographic concepts, so developers can build private applications without a degree in cryptography. “We created Leo to make it easier to write private applications,” said Wu.
