Privacy-preserving authentication using zero-knowledge proofs
*Minal BodkeCorresponding authorminal.bodke@pccoer.inDepartment of Computer EngineeringPCET’S Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering & ResearchRavet, Pune, Maharashtra, 412101, IndiaView full profile → , Vinod S. Sapkalvinodsapkal@pvppcoe.ac.inDepartment of Information TechnologyVasantdada Patil Pratishthan’s College of Engineering & Visual ArtsSion, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400022, IndiaView full profile → , Pooja Mishrapooja26.mishra@gmail.comDepartment of Computer Engineering & ApplicationsD. Y. Patil International UniversityPune, Maharashtra, 412101, IndiaView full profile → , Priyanka D. Morepriyanka.more@vit.eduDepartment of Computer Science & Engineering (Data Science)Vishwakarma Institute of TechnologyPune, Maharashtra, 411048, IndiaView full profile → , Dinesh Yadavdr.dinesh.yadav@rungta.orgDepartment of Computer Science and EngineeringRungta College of Engineering and TechnologyRungta International Skills UniversityBhilai, Chhattisgarh, 490024, IndiaView full profile → , Dipak Sethidir.son@niu.edu.inSchool of NursingNoida International UniversityGreater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 203201, IndiaView full profile →
* Corresponding author · click or hover a name for details
- Received:
- 01 Apr 2026
- Published Online:
- 31 Oct 2026
- Article type:
- Research Article
- Language:
- EN
- Article no.:
- JDMSC-3068
- Pages:
- 4497–4508
Abstract
Privacy preserving authentication has become one of the most important needs in the contemporary digital systems where the verification of identity should be done without disclosing any sensitive information about the user. This paper describes a zero-knowledge-proof (ZKP)-authentication system that can achieve secure and anonymous verification of user identity. The presented model mathematically states the authentication problem in terms of cryptographic relations and builds the statements of proofs with a witness representation that is efficient. A lightweight protocol that incorporates ZKP in the authentication process is developed, which includes key-generation mechanisms, credential issuance mechanisms, and non-interactive proof verification mechanisms. Performance analysis proves that it has low overhead in communication, high efficiency in verification and high replay and impersonation resistance. Compared to traditional authentication schemes, the framework compares well in terms of privacy assurance and performance, which is why it is applicable to distributed and resource-limited environment.
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References
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