3A - Authenticated Anonymity Architecture
Coach Name
Juan Juan
EU Organization
University of Bologna (Italy)
Members
- Prof. Fabio Vitali
- Dr. Lorenzo Gigli
- Dr. Luca Sciullo
- Michele Dinelli
CA Organization
Dalhousie University (Canada)
Members
- Dr. James Blustein
- Dr. Nicola Raffaele Di Matteo
Project Overview
The Authenticated Anonymity Architecture (AAA) explores how to reconcile online anonymity with legally enforceable identification, allowing individuals to participate anonymously in digital public spaces while still enabling lawful investigation of criminal behaviour.
AAA proposes a blockchain-based system, integrated with legally recognized identity providers, that allows people to act anonymously under normal conditions. Re-identification is only possible when multiple legal authorities agree—via smart legal contracts—that due process has been followed and sufficient evidence exists to justify deanonymization.
The system ensures that:
- lawful citizens remain protected from retaliation, discrimination, and surveillance,
- criminals abusing anonymity can still be identified,
- law enforcement cannot bypass safeguards, thanks to non-repudiable blockchain auditing,
- the architecture remains compliant with GDPR, eIDAS, and EU criminal-law frameworks.
AAA therefore delivers a workable compromise between privacy, accountability, and digital security in public online environments.
Methods and approaches
Blockchain-enabled selective deanonymization with legal safeguards
AAA uses a federated European blockchain protocol to store mappings between real identities and anonymous accounts. These can only be resolved through multi-jurisdiction smart contracts, ensuring lawful, accountable deanonymization and preventing abuse by authorities or platforms.
Full-stack prototype integrating backend services, smart contracts & client apps
The University of Bologna developed backend APIs and smart-contract logic handling identity binding, verification, and consensus-based deanonymization. Dalhousie University built the frontend clients defining the roles of citizens, public users, and authorities. The team produced open-source implementations for both the wallet-like client and the protocol backend.
Key Achievements
Complete implementation of the AAA architecture, including backend services, client applications, and smart contracts.
A fully working prototype enabling:
- anonymous identity creation,
- legal/authorized deanonymization workflows,
- auditability through blockchain records.
Comprehensive legal and ethical analysis assessing GDPR, eIDAS, AI Act, and private international law compliance.
Organization of a public hackathon to test security assumptions and analyze adversarial behaviour.
Two peer-reviewed publications formalizing the architecture and its ethical, legal, and technical foundations.
Open-source codebases:
- Frontend clients: https://github.com/UniBO-PRISMLab/nip-client & https://github.com/UniBO-PRISMLab/aaa-client
- Backend + smart contracts: https://github.com/UniBO-PRISMLab/AAA-Authenticated-Anonymity-Architecture/
Full system documentation hosted online.
Impact & Results
Scientific Impact
The project advances research on anonymous yet accountable identities, offering a robust, formally analyzed architecture validated through implementation, testing, and external evaluation (hackathon).
Societal Impact
AAA enables safe participation in digital public spaces by protecting citizens from harm (stalkers, bullies, harassment) while still enabling lawful investigation of wrongdoing. It reinforces digital rights, transparency, and democratic participation.
Economic Impact
Demonstrates how blockchain can reduce integration complexity, remove centralized trust operators, and support privacy-preserving web services (e.g., verified age checks without identity disclosure).
EU/CA collaboration
The project strengthened a long-term partnership between Bologna and Dalhousie, including joint development, security evaluations, and plans for continued research and publication.
Publications and Open-Source Contributions
- Peer-reviewed papers in SECRYPT 2025 and GoodIT 2024.
- GitHub repositories containing backend, smart contracts, frontend clients, and documentation.
- Hackathon findings and screenshots available via project repository.
- Interview form and anonymized responses.
Future directions