<blockquote>
<p>Who binds the public key to the real-world identity and the identifier used for transactions?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Right now, nobody. However, anybody can see the NFTs at your wallet address, which is tied to each of your transactions. Prism is being developed to create unique and verified NFTs that contain identity information in their metadata. Thus, you will be able to identify the person to whom a wallet belongs should that wallet contain an NFT with identity.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Where is confidential data held and how is access to it controlled?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It depends on the context, but if you include metadata in a transaction, those metadata will be publicly available. However, you can always encrypt your metadata. When you encrypt metadata and attach it to a UTXO, whoever else has the secret key to decrypt those metadata will be able to read decipher it, but nobody else will be able to.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What tools do individuals have to ensure they avoid disastrous errors?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We recommend that you keep your mnemonics, spending passwords, and keys private and in secure locations. You might etch your mnemonics into aluminum so that even if your house burns down you will be able to recover your wallet. Otherwise, keep yourself educated, and do not fall for scams!!</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How is access to on-chain metadata controlled to prevent re-identification? Blockchain ‘anonymity’ didn’t help Ross Ulbricht.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Everything on the blockchain is publicly viewable. Everyone downloads a copy to run a full node. Cardano is a way to validate and secure transactions. If privacy is your goal, we do not have very many tools set up for that yet. Feel free to develop some =^). You could even submit a Catalyst proposal.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When 51% or more of consensus participants validate any transaction for recording on-chain, against what evidence are they validating?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Each transaction is broadcast, and the slot leader creates a block from all of the transactions in a given slot. That block is then broadcast to the rest of the network. The network relays the blocks until everyone has a copy, and each time a block is relayed, information about the sender is verified. See <a href="https://iohk.io/en/research/library/papers/ouroboros-praosan-adaptively-securesemi-synchronous-proof-of-stake-protocol/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ouroboros Praos</a> for the set of properties tested when receiving a transaction.</p>
<p>I hope that was helpful =^)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-29T23:44:44.263Z
Thank you Noah!
oxsin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-03T06:24:45.257Z
Hey i have some additional info I should have provided to add clarity to my questions; hoping they can be answered.
oxsin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-03T06:24:51.417Z
For holding confidential data: I see how encrypting data on chain can keep it confidential for some years until the crypto is broken and maybe that’s OK for some data and expectations of confidentiality. Quorum (when last I spoke to them) don’t put encrypted data on chain since they share my assumption that crypto works for a limited time. How would access to the secret key you mention be tied to UTXO? I don’t see that linkage.
oxsin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-03T06:26:43.283Z
For the last question: 1/2 What I really wanted to explore was whether the data required for truly validating the correctness of any transaction is viewable to the participants or if it’s held confidential (like it might be encrypted) would that validation really mean anything? With bitcoin, everyone can see whether you have enough coin to give away what you propose to give;
oxsin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-03T06:26:59.013Z
last question 2/2 but if there’s a scheme where information like that is confidential, then the validation means nothing and few would want to participate in a transaction that cannot be validated. There will be some contradictions that will find their ways into these new systems.
oxsin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-03T06:27:28.607Z
i can add as separate questions if that makes it easy
oxsin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-28T23:02:16.640Z
2021-08-28T23:02:16.640Z
Noah Jones
<p>Hi there I have a number of questions i hope you can help answer:</p>
<ul>
<li>Who binds the public key to the real-world identity and the identifier used for transactions?</li>
<li>Where is confidential data held and how is access to it controlled?</li>
<li>What tools do individuals have to ensure they avoid disastrous errors?</li>
<li>How is access to on-chain metadata controlled to prevent re-identification? Blockchain ‘anonymity’ didn’t help Ross Ulbricht.</li>
<li>When 51% or more of consensus participants validate any transaction for recording on-chain, against what evidence are they validating?</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you!
Daren</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-27T08:21:52.410Z
Welcome @oxsin to Cardano SE. The questions are good, It will be appropriate if they could be posted as separate questions.
raghu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-27T21:44:13.430Z
Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer.
Community
<transaction><blockchain>
Questions about data storage and unique identifiers
# Questions about data storage and unique identifiers

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-27)

Hi there I have a number of questions i hope you can help answer:

* Who binds the public key to the real-world identity and the identifier used for transactions?
* Where is confidential data held and how is access to it controlled?
* What tools do individuals have to ensure they avoid disastrous errors?
* How is access to on-chain metadata controlled to prevent re-identification? Blockchain ‘anonymity’ didn’t help Ross Ulbricht.
* When 51% or more of consensus participants validate any transaction for recording on-chain, against what evidence are they validating?

Thank you!
Daren

**Tags:** transaction, blockchain
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome @oxsin to Cardano SE. The questions are good, It will be appropriate if they could be posted as separate questions.  
> **username_2**: Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-28. Score: 0

> Who binds the public key to the real-world identity and the identifier used for transactions?

Right now, nobody. However, anybody can see the NFTs at your wallet address, which is tied to each of your transactions. Prism is being developed to create unique and verified NFTs that contain identity information in their metadata. Thus, you will be able to identify the person to whom a wallet belongs should that wallet contain an NFT with identity.

> Where is confidential data held and how is access to it controlled?

It depends on the context, but if you include metadata in a transaction, those metadata will be publicly available. However, you can always encrypt your metadata. When you encrypt metadata and attach it to a UTXO, whoever else has the secret key to decrypt those metadata will be able to read decipher it, but nobody else will be able to.

> What tools do individuals have to ensure they avoid disastrous errors?

We recommend that you keep your mnemonics, spending passwords, and keys private and in secure locations. You might etch your mnemonics into aluminum so that even if your house burns down you will be able to recover your wallet. Otherwise, keep yourself educated, and do not fall for scams!!

> How is access to on-chain metadata controlled to prevent re-identification? Blockchain ‘anonymity’ didn’t help Ross Ulbricht.

Everything on the blockchain is publicly viewable. Everyone downloads a copy to run a full node. Cardano is a way to validate and secure transactions. If privacy is your goal, we do not have very many tools set up for that yet. Feel free to develop some =^). You could even submit a Catalyst proposal.

> When 51% or more of consensus participants validate any transaction for recording on-chain, against what evidence are they validating?

Each transaction is broadcast, and the slot leader creates a block from all of the transactions in a given slot. That block is then broadcast to the rest of the network. The network relays the blocks until everyone has a copy, and each time a block is relayed, information about the sender is verified. See [Ouroboros Praos](https://iohk.io/en/research/library/papers/ouroboros-praosan-adaptively-securesemi-synchronous-proof-of-stake-protocol/) for the set of properties tested when receiving a transaction.

I hope that was helpful =^)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you Noah!  
> **username_0**: Hey i have some additional info I should have provided to add clarity to my questions; hoping they can be answered.  
> **username_0**: For holding confidential data: I see how encrypting data on chain can keep it confidential for some years until the crypto is broken and maybe that’s OK for some data and expectations of confidentiality. Quorum (when last I spoke to them) don’t put encrypted data on chain since they share my assumption that crypto works for a limited time. How would access to the secret key you mention be tied to UTXO? I don’t see that linkage.  
> **username_0**: For the last question: 1/2 What I really wanted to explore was whether the data required for truly validating the correctness of any transaction is viewable to the participants or if it’s held confidential (like it might be encrypted) would that validation really mean anything? With bitcoin, everyone can see whether you have enough coin to give away what you propose to give;  
> **username_0**: last question 2/2 but if there’s a scheme where information like that is confidential, then the validation means nothing and few would want to participate in a transaction that cannot be validated. There will be some contradictions that will find their ways into these new systems.  
> **username_0**: i can add as separate questions if that makes it easy  

---

