Communicating in a network such as the Internet has the -seemingly- inherent characteristic that anyone observing the network (e.g., a service provider) will get to know the metadata for each connection (including the source and destination, length and size of conversation or data transfer etc.). This information is a resource that can be exploited and its misuse may have serious implications for the privacy of European citizens especially given the global nature of the Internet. PANORAMIX will develop a European infrastructure for secure communications based on mix-nets which are cryptographic overlays for network communication with the capability to eliminate meta-data information. Furthermore, even though they are a privacy-enhancing technology, mix-nets can also have suitable accountability features by design. PANORAMIX comes as a response to the need for privacy in a highly connected world where personal information becomes increasingly an item of high valuation and exchange between companies and governments and aims at empowering European citizens in terms of managing their privacy.
In a nutshell the goals of PANORAMIX are the following.
First, the design, reference and production implementation of a secure mix net system that is freely available, fully documented and interoperable.
Second, the field demonstration of the system in three use-cases: e-voting (via partner GRNET), big data collection (via partner SAP) and private messaging (via partners Greenhost and CCT).