Glossary

Human Keys

Easy

Human Keys are cryptographic keys derived from what you are, what you know, or what you have. They are used to secure digital assets, protect privacy, and access the decentralized web.

What Are Human Keys?

Human Keys are cryptographic keys derived from what you are, what you know, or what you have. They are used to secure digital assets, protect privacy, and access the decentralized web. They are created using unique cryptographic keys from an individual's distinct traits, such as security questions, facial features or voice. Human Keys are derived with an Oblivious Pseudorandom Function (OPRF), an advanced technique that maximizes the entropy of human data to ensure these keys are secure, unique, and exclusively usable by their owner.

In a zero-trust environment, where no agent or service is trusted by default, Human Keys provide a seamless authentication experience without compromising security. They can be used with zero-knowledge proofs to verify ownership while keeping personal information confidential, allowing the owner to prove their identity while maintaining privacy.

How Does it Work?

Here is how the tech works:

  1. Unique Cryptographic Keys from Personal Traits: Human Keys are made using unique human attributes such as a hardware key, biometric information, or security questions, ensuring each key is tied to an individual's identity.

  2. Decentralized Authentication: The network ensures key generation is secure and decentralized, eliminating the need for middlemen or companies to manage authentication.

  3. Programmable Privacy: Human Key holders can easily access and interact with crypto protocols, while programmable privacy features allow for controlled data sharing and secure wallet recovery.

  4. Zero-Knowledge Privacy Protection: The system uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify identity claims while keeping personal information private, allowing secure identity verification without revealing sensitive data.

How Are Human Keys Different From Traditional Cryptographic Keys?

Human Keys are designed to make cryptographic security more accessible and human-friendly by using simple and accessible forms of authentication to create and sign with cryptography keys. Traditional cryptographic keys are typically derived from a random seed and used to protect everything from email and banking accounts to blockchain assets. However traditional keys can be challenging for people to manage. They rely on complex, random strings of data that can be easily lost or stolen, leaving users vulnerable.

Human Keys generate secure keys from personal traits—such as biometrics, passwords, or security questions—making them easy for people to recover and use while still being highly secure. This user-centric approach bridges cybersecurity and digital identity, simplifying the process of interacting with decentralized technologies. Users can authenticate with apps and manage their digital assets as effortlessly as unlocking a phone, without the need for complicated key management.

Benefits of Human Keys

  • User-Friendly Key Management:
    Human Keys are derived from familiar traits like biometrics, making them easy to recover and use without complex password management or seed phrases.
  • Enhanced Security:
    By using personal attributes combined with advanced cryptographic techniques, Human Keys create strong, unique keys that are difficult to steal or replicate.
  • Privacy Protection:
    The use of Oblivious Pseudorandom Functions (OPRF) ensures that biometric data remains private and secure, never revealing sensitive information during authentication.
  • Decentralized Authentication:
    Human Keys provide trustless authentication without relying on centralized services like Google or Apple, reducing the risk of data breaches and third-party control.

Nanak Nihal Khalsa is the Co-Founder of Holonym Foundation, a set of privacy-preserving identity tools. He got his start in web3 security by white-hat hacking, finding and reporting bugs in many of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets. The state of wallet security is what pushed him to develop the Holonym Foundation, an ecosystem of sophisticated tools to create the next generation of decentralized digital identity.