Phantom Anonymity Protocol
White Paper: Generic, Decentralized, Unstoppable Anonymity: The Phantom Protocol
Author: Magnus Bråding
Generic, Decentralized, Unstoppable Anonymity:
The Phantom Protocol
Version: 0.82
2011-05-24
1(68)
White Paper: Generic, Decentralized, Unstoppable Anonymity: The Phantom Protocol
Author: Magnus Bråding
1. Abstract
Recent years, and especially this past year, have seen a notable upswing in developments toward anti-online privacy around the world, primarily in the form of draconian surveillance and censorship laws (both legislated and suggested) and ISPs being pressured into individually acting as both police and informants for various commercial interests. Once such first steps have been taken, it is of course also of huge concern how these newly created possibilities could be used outside of their originally stated bounds, and what the future of such developments may hold in store for online privacy. There are no signs of this trend being broken anytime soon. Combined with the ever growing online migration of everything in general, and privacy sensitive activities in particular (like e.g. voting, all nature of personal and interpersonal discussions, and various personal groupings), this trend will in turn unavoidably lead to a huge demand for online anonymization tools and similar means of maintaining privacy. However, if not carefully designed, such anonymization tools will, ultimately, be easy targets for additional draconian legislation and directed [il]legal pressure from big commercial and political interests. Therefore, a well-conceived, robust and theoretically secure design for such an anonymization protocol and infrastructure is needed, which is exactly what is set out to be done with this project. What is presented in this paper is the design of a protocol and complete system for anonymization, intended as a candidate for a free, open, community owned, de facto anonymization standard, aimed at improving on existing
Author: Magnus Bråding
Generic, Decentralized, Unstoppable Anonymity:
The Phantom Protocol
Version: 0.82
2011-05-24
1(68)
White Paper: Generic, Decentralized, Unstoppable Anonymity: The Phantom Protocol
Author: Magnus Bråding
1. Abstract
Recent years, and especially this past year, have seen a notable upswing in developments toward anti-online privacy around the world, primarily in the form of draconian surveillance and censorship laws (both legislated and suggested) and ISPs being pressured into individually acting as both police and informants for various commercial interests. Once such first steps have been taken, it is of course also of huge concern how these newly created possibilities could be used outside of their originally stated bounds, and what the future of such developments may hold in store for online privacy. There are no signs of this trend being broken anytime soon. Combined with the ever growing online migration of everything in general, and privacy sensitive activities in particular (like e.g. voting, all nature of personal and interpersonal discussions, and various personal groupings), this trend will in turn unavoidably lead to a huge demand for online anonymization tools and similar means of maintaining privacy. However, if not carefully designed, such anonymization tools will, ultimately, be easy targets for additional draconian legislation and directed [il]legal pressure from big commercial and political interests. Therefore, a well-conceived, robust and theoretically secure design for such an anonymization protocol and infrastructure is needed, which is exactly what is set out to be done with this project. What is presented in this paper is the design of a protocol and complete system for anonymization, intended as a candidate for a free, open, community owned, de facto anonymization standard, aimed at improving on existing