The protocol employs strong cryptographic techniques to ensure that even actions performed by the same user, including sequential steps in a stateful process, are unlinkable to each other from an external observer's perspective.
Characteristics
An attacker cannot correlate different actions to the same originating user.
Action Leakage (What)
Stage: Obfuscated Action Parameters
1
Definition
An attacker can discern the general _type_ of action being performed, but critical parameters are either hidden, aggregated, or sufficiently ambiguous to prevent precise inference.
Characteristics
The specific values within an action are obscured.
Actions may be batched or aggregated, revealing a total but not individual contributions.
De-anonymization Trust Assumption
Stage: Trustless / Self-Sovereign
2
Definition
The protocol is architected such that no entity, or even the complete collusion of all protocol operators and infrastructure providers, can de-anonymize users. The information required for de-anonymization is secured exclusively by the user and is never shared.
Characteristics
All sensitive user data is either encrypted client-side with keys exclusively controlled by the user, or never leaves the user’s local environment at all.
Protocol Survivability
Stage: Highly Robust
2
Definition
The protocol is exceptionally difficult to disable. Its operational dependency is minimal and relies only on its highly robust base-layer infrastructure.
Characteristics
The protocol's core logic is fully autonomous and encoded in on-chain smart contracts.
Any user can continue to use the protocol with basic, widely available infrastructure.
The protocol's survivability is tied directly to the survivability of its underlying blockchain (e.g., 'as long as Ethereum is alive, the protocol is alive').
Underlying Technology Maturity
Stage: Battle-Tested
1
Definition
The underlying technology has been rolled out at a significant scale and has a multi-year track record of operating in production with substantial value at stake. It has withstood public scrutiny and attack attempts.
Characteristics
Groth16 (PLONK, STARK, and its variants are migrating towards this level as they accumulate more production time)
Production-grade TEE
Privacy Analysis
Railgun - Public DeFi
Total Score: 6
Identity Leakage (Who)
Stage: Pseudonymous Linkage
1
Definition
The protocol attempts to break the link to the user's primary identity by using one (or more) temporary addresses (pseudonyms) or provide plausible deniability (e.g. with ring signature). However, if interactions are stateful (multiple related steps), those steps can be correlated to the same address, making it possible for attacker to deduce/form user’s personas from this usage pattern.
Characteristics
Each new, independent stateless interaction may use a new pseudonym, but multi-step stateful processes are linked.
Each action come from a set of possible actors
Action Leakage (What)
Stage: Transparent Action and Parameters
0
Definition
An attacker can see the precise type of action performed and all of its detailed parameters (e.g., asset types, amounts, destinations), even if the 'who' is obfuscated. The public visibility of the action's _result_ (that maybe due to protocol encrypted state or other reasons) is irrelevant to this criterion.
Characteristics
Public data reveals the specific function called and its arguments.
De-anonymization Trust Assumption
Stage: Trustless / Self-Sovereign
2
Definition
The protocol is architected such that no entity, or even the complete collusion of all protocol operators and infrastructure providers, can de-anonymize users. The information required for de-anonymization is secured exclusively by the user and is never shared.
Characteristics
All sensitive user data is either encrypted client-side with keys exclusively controlled by the user, or never leaves the user’s local environment at all.
Protocol Survivability
Stage: Highly Robust
2
Definition
The protocol is exceptionally difficult to disable. Its operational dependency is minimal and relies only on its highly robust base-layer infrastructure.
Characteristics
The protocol's core logic is fully autonomous and encoded in on-chain smart contracts.
Any user can continue to use the protocol with basic, widely available infrastructure.
The protocol's survivability is tied directly to the survivability of its underlying blockchain (e.g., 'as long as Ethereum is alive, the protocol is alive').
Underlying Technology Maturity
Stage: Battle-Tested
1
Definition
The underlying technology has been rolled out at a significant scale and has a multi-year track record of operating in production with substantial value at stake. It has withstood public scrutiny and attack attempts.
Characteristics
Groth16 (PLONK, STARK, and its variants are migrating towards this level as they accumulate more production time)