By Elena Giralt
2020 is off to a strong start. Here are the latest updates from ECC:
- Real World Crypto conference is underway in NYC where BLAKE3 was presented. The BLAKE3 project, sponsored by ECC and Teserakt, is “an evolution of the BLAKE2 cryptographic hash that is both faster and also more consistently fast across different platforms and input sizes.” Zooko is one of the inventors of BLAKE3. Members of Zcash Foundation and ECC are in attendance.
- ECC welcomes new Tech Advisory board member Zaki Manian. Manian has deep expertise in cryptography and distributed consensus systems; serves as executive director of Trusted IoT Alliance; and is an advisor to Cosmos, Tendermint, and several other investment funds and startups in the space.
- Zcash:The HTTPS of Blockchains was among the debut articles in NAKAMOTO, a journal of technology, philosophy, and culture. Eli Ben Sasson also contributed a piece on the Cambrian explosion of proofs.
- Next week, we’re going to announce a brand new community initiative: ZEAL, monthly community calls covering everything from technical AMAs to resources for organizing meetups to helping you apply for a Zcash grant. These calls are scheduled in partnership with Zcash Foundation. The first call will be on Tuesday, January 28th. Look out for more information (like registration link, time and agenda) early next week.
** Dates to remember**
- Tues, 1/21 – Protocol Hangout
- Tues, 1/28 – Introducing ZEAL, monthly community calls
- Tues, 2/11 – ECC Quarterly Livestream, 1 pm EST
This week in privacy, big tech firms tout their commitment to privacy at CES 2020 despite continuing to undermine meaningful privacy reforms within their business practices. Over 50 organizations called on Google to do something about pre-installed bloatware on Android phones. Facebook promises end-to-end encryption in Messenger app and offers users more control over privacy settings, but that isn’t enough to convince people to trust the social media giant.
Former CIA officer, Mary Stone Ross writes about the shortfalls of the new California Consumer Privacy Act, regulation she helped create. MIT Tech Review published an Elegy for Cash (although oddly no mention of Zcash and other privacy coins) I stumbled upon the National Archives Records of Rights where you can filter by subjects like privacy and civil liberties.
In crypto-related news, Monero releases new Triptych research. Coinbase’s Brian Brooks and Brian Armstrong both weigh in on key themes in crypto for 2020. Spoiler alert – a lot of it has to do with privacy.
I tried to search for stories, highlights and news updates from around the world but (probably because of my browsing history), my articles are overwhelmingly US-centric. If you have tips or resources that you’d like to share, please send them my way. Have a great weekend y’all. It’s good to be back!
