PANORAMIX

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..