On Wed, Jan 3, 2018 at 3:41 AM, Mark Clarke <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I can grok this use of the blockchain where essentially everyones public
> key is linked to a verified identity like PGP signatures. It just when it
> comes to voting and keeping who you voted for secret that I can't see how
> one can get away from trusting a central server not to leak the link from
> your vote to your public ID.
>

I think this article sums up the current state of privacy in voting using
blockchain nicely:
https://www.coindesk.com/voting-scheme-ethereum-doesnt-give-away-vote/

Assuming the worst, that all smart contract public function calls are
viewable, we could have everyone encrypt their vote with the voting systems
public key.  Then, the final tally would just require a decryption of the
votes and a count...I'm sure there's something I'm missing here :)


Of course I am quite happy to admit I am still working out all the
> implications and ramifications of the block chain so let me know if I got
> something wrong. The main principle for the distributed public ledger is
> that it should be impossible for anyone party or group to change and
> manipulate. Simply having it distributed like torrents is not enough. Even
> Ehtereum using mining and processing power to do this. Still got to read up
> on Ripple's protocol.
>

from wikipedia: XRP has "While transaction information on the ledger is
public, payment information is not. It’s thus difficult for anyone to
associate transaction information with any specific user or corporation. "
So, it may be able to hide the individual vote details already.



> Privacy might not be a requirement for other uses of the blockchain.
> Bitcoin is only "anonymous" if your public key is not linked to your
> identity. I know there are work arounds like pools etc, multiple keys etc
> but essentially everything is  public.
>

Pools (I'm assuming you mean a mining pool) wouldn't provide any privacy.
Plus, we wouldn't use mining on our blockchain.  I'm assuming that we
wouldn't want to incur the costs of using a public block chain like
ethereum...we'd have to supply every voter with enough ether to pay for the
gas to get the vote registered on the blockchain.



> Hope I am not taking this off topic. I think using the block chain is a
> great way to get a feel for where things are going, being relevant and of
> course learning which, after all, is what LPI is all about :)
>

This is why I like the exercise. Even if we choose some other solution, we
get some useful experience.

Regards,
--matt

>
>
> --
> Mark Clarke
> πŸ“± +2711-781 8014 <+27%2011%20781%208014>
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-- 
G. Matthew Rice <[email protected]>                         gpg id: 0x17CF9077
Executive Director, Linux Professional Institute
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