> If tech-savvy people can't be bothered to understand how this works
You underestimate your own abilities. Tech savvy doesn't mean they think much about crypto.
To get a feel for this I asked Gemini "If you were to survey a group of people who would be called "Tech Savvy", what percentage of them would be aware you could construct a zero knowledge proof for a person's age that revealed nothing beyond they were older than a given threshold?". The answer was 5%..10%. That rises to a surprising low 20%..30% for Software Engineers. It's only once you get to Software Engineers who write security systems that you get above 50%.
Gemini didn't give any references so those figures could be complete rubbish, but in my experience they seem on the high side. Many very experienced engineers I interact with clearly have not thought very deeply about how crypto systems interact with human trust. Granted understanding the implications of crypto is yet another step beyond understanding the maths, but I'm amazed at how many technology curious people haven't bothered to take that step.
The good pollies on the other hand probably have a very good intuitive feel for human trust systems and how to navigate them. They rely on engineers to tell them what is possible of course, and they won't care about the details. But what they will care about is whether the engineers can deliver the system they promised, and there I have to admit our track record is appalling. How many government IT initiatives have you seen deliver what was promised on time and on budget? So when you tell them you can build a ZK system that delivers in all these privacy promises, expect a very sceptical reception.
You underestimate your own abilities. Tech savvy doesn't mean they think much about crypto.
To get a feel for this I asked Gemini "If you were to survey a group of people who would be called "Tech Savvy", what percentage of them would be aware you could construct a zero knowledge proof for a person's age that revealed nothing beyond they were older than a given threshold?". The answer was 5%..10%. That rises to a surprising low 20%..30% for Software Engineers. It's only once you get to Software Engineers who write security systems that you get above 50%.
Gemini didn't give any references so those figures could be complete rubbish, but in my experience they seem on the high side. Many very experienced engineers I interact with clearly have not thought very deeply about how crypto systems interact with human trust. Granted understanding the implications of crypto is yet another step beyond understanding the maths, but I'm amazed at how many technology curious people haven't bothered to take that step.
The good pollies on the other hand probably have a very good intuitive feel for human trust systems and how to navigate them. They rely on engineers to tell them what is possible of course, and they won't care about the details. But what they will care about is whether the engineers can deliver the system they promised, and there I have to admit our track record is appalling. How many government IT initiatives have you seen deliver what was promised on time and on budget? So when you tell them you can build a ZK system that delivers in all these privacy promises, expect a very sceptical reception.