Prologue: About Leaked Data and Frustration
Try to remember—how many times have you done this?
Take a photo of your ID card, upload it to an app. Take a selfie, send it here and there. Fill out long forms with your address, date of birth, national identification number. Repeat for the next app. And the next.
Have you ever wondered: where does all this data go? Who else sees it besides the app I’m using? Is it safe there?
We live in a world where personal data is a commodity. Every time we use a “free” service, we’re actually paying with our data. And what’s more worrying, that data is stored on massive servers that are prime targets for hackers.
Just in 2023, millions of Indonesian ID cards were leaked and traded on the dark corners of the internet. Not because their owners were careless, but because the places storing their data weren’t secure.
So, is there a way out?
Two development teams on different sides of the world are designing a solution. They don’t work at the same company, but their visions align. They are Midnight Network and zkMe. And their collaboration story is worth listening to.
A Dream Born from Restlessness
This story begins with a restlessness felt by many blockchain developers: how do you build a system that’s transparent (so it can be trusted) but also private (so user data stays safe)?
For a long time, blockchain has had a classic problem: all data inside it can be seen by anyone. This is good for transparency, but a disaster for privacy. If you send money to someone, the whole world can see your wallet address and the amount.
The team at Input Output Global (IOG) —the company behind the Cardano blockchain—felt something was missing. They wanted to build a blockchain that wasn’t just transparent, but could also protect users’ sensitive data.
Thus, Midnight Network was born.
Midnight Is Not Just an Ordinary Blockchain
If a regular blockchain is like a public road where everyone can pass by and see who’s traveling, Midnight is designed as a toll road with special lanes. There are areas everyone can see, but there are also tunnel areas that only certain people can enter.
Midnight calls this a dual-state ledger—a ledger with two sides:
- Public side: for data that actually needs to be publicly known (like proof that a transaction occurred)
- Private side: for sensitive data (like the identities of sender and receiver, supporting documents, etc.)
What’s interesting is that data on the private side isn’t really “hidden.” It’s encrypted, but proof of its truth can still be verified by anyone. This technology is called Zero-Knowledge Proofs—a cryptographic marvel that allows someone to prove a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the truth of the statement itself.
“We’re architects and infrastructure contractors,” says Fahmi Syed, President of the Midnight Foundation. “We prepare the land, the roads, the electricity, and the security system for the neighborhood. Our job is to ensure the foundation is solid. Let others build houses according to their needs.”
And those houses started to appear. One of the most interesting came from a team called zkMe.
The Journey of Finding the Problem
Around the same time, in a different place, another group of developers was grappling with an equally thorny problem: how to verify someone’s identity in the digital world without sacrificing their privacy?
They saw how tedious the current KYC (Know Your Customer) process is. Every time you want to open a bank account, register for a digital wallet, or invest in a financial app, you’re always asked for a photo of your ID and a selfie. That data is then sent to the service provider’s servers. Stored there. Potentially leaked there.
“There has to be a better way,” they thought. “Users should be able to prove their identity without handing over their raw data to just anyone.”
Thus, zkMe was born.
zkMe Is More Than Just a Digital Wallet
zkMe is a digital wallet application specifically designed to store identity credentials—ID cards, passports, diplomas, proof of employment, and other important documents.
But what makes it special is: all data is processed on the user’s phone, not on servers.
Here’s how it works:
Document Verification: You take a photo of your ID in the zkMe app. OCR (optical character recognition) technology on your phone immediately reads the text on your ID—name, national ID number, date of birth, address. All of this happens on your phone, not sent anywhere.
Face Verification: You’re asked for a selfie. Face recognition technology on your phone matches your face with the photo on your ID. Again, everything happens on your phone.
Proof Generation: Once confident that you’re the legitimate owner of the ID, the zkMe app creates Zero-Knowledge Proofs—a kind of “digital proof” that can answer specific questions without revealing the original data.
For example, the app can create proofs to answer questions like:
- “Is this user over 18 years old?”
- “Is this user not a prohibited nationality?”
- “Is this user a college graduate?”
The answers to these questions can be stored on the blockchain as Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) —a kind of digital badge that can’t be transferred.
The zkMe team knows exactly what their expertise is: they’re experts in face recognition, OCR, identity management, and user experience. They can build apps that are easy to use, accurate, and secure.
But they’re not experts in building blockchains from scratch. They don’t want to worry about network consensus, validator nodes, or dual-state ledger mechanisms. They need ready-to-use land.
And that’s where Midnight comes in.
The Meeting That Changed Everything
The meeting between Midnight and zkMe wasn’t a coincidence. Both were looking for the same thing: ways to protect user privacy in the digital world.
Midnight needs useful applications willing to build on top of its infrastructure. Without applications, infrastructure is just an empty framework.
zkMe needs secure, decentralized infrastructure to store its users’ digital proofs. Without infrastructure, the app is stranded on users’ phones and can’t connect to the wider Web3 ecosystem.
So they shook hands.
In this collaboration, each knows exactly their role:
Midnight says: “We’ll handle the blockchain. We’ll ensure this network is secure, fast, and reliable. You focus on building apps that are useful for users.”
zkMe replies: “Agreed. We’ll handle the app. We’ll ensure users can verify their IDs easily on their phones. We’ll leave the blockchain matters to you.”
A Simple Analogy: A Premium Housing Complex
Imagine Midnight as a luxury housing developer building a new complex.
They prepare the land, pave smooth roads, install street lighting, build a 24-hour security system with CCTV cameras on every corner, and hire trained security guards for rotating shifts. They also install automatic gates that can only be opened by legitimate residents.
But this developer doesn’t build houses for you. They only sell the land.
Now, zkMe comes as a house contractor specializing in building homes for storing important documents. They know exactly how to create fireproof, waterproof, burglar-proof archive rooms. They use Midnight’s land to build a house that suits your specific needs.
You, as the resident, just occupy that house, storing your ID, diplomas, and other important documents there peacefully.
A Day in the Life with zkMe + Midnight
Let’s follow the journey of Budi, an ordinary office worker who wants to start investing in the crypto world.
Morning: Verify Once, Forever
Budi downloads the zkMe app on his phone. He’s asked to “register his identity” just once.
He takes a photo of his ID. The app on his phone immediately reads all the data on the ID. He takes a selfie. The app matches his face with the photo on the ID. All these processes happen locally on Budi’s phone.
Once confident that Budi is the legitimate owner of the ID, the app creates several “digital proofs” for common questions:
- Proof that Budi is over 18 years old
- Proof that Budi is an Indonesian citizen
- Proof that Budi is not on international sanctions lists
These proofs are then sent to the Midnight network—stored securely on the blockchain. Budi’s original data (his ID photo and selfie) remain on his phone. Not sent anywhere.
Afternoon: Registering for an Investment App
Budi finds an interesting crypto investment app. This app requires all users to complete KYC (Know Your Customer) due to government regulations.
Budi clicks “Register.” The investment app asks him to verify his identity. Budi selects the option “Verify with zkMe.”
The investment app sends a list of questions to Budi’s wallet:
- “Is this user over 18 years old?”
- “Is this user not a prohibited nationality?”
Budi’s wallet responds by showing the digital proofs created that morning. The investment app reads these proofs from the Midnight network.
The result: “Yes, Budi meets the requirements.”
The investment app immediately activates Budi’s account. They never saw Budi’s ID. They don’t know his birth date, address, or national ID number. They only know that Budi has passed verification.
Budi can now start investing.
Evening: Peaceful Without Worrying About Data Leaks
That evening, Budi reads news about a major technology company whose data was hacked. Millions of users’ ID cards were leaked and sold on the internet.
Budi just smiles. His data is safe. His ID photo was never sent to any server. What’s on the blockchain are just digital proofs that can’t be traced back to the original data.
He sleeps soundly.
Why This Collaboration Is Special
What’s interesting about the Midnight and zkMe story is: they don’t compete. They actually need each other.
Midnight needs apps like zkMe to make its infrastructure useful. A blockchain without apps is like a smartphone without apps—just an expensive dead object.
zkMe needs infrastructure like Midnight to store its users’ digital proofs. An identity app without a secure blockchain is like a safe placed on the roadside—sooner or later, it will be broken into.
This modular approach allows both teams to focus on what they do best:
The Midnight team consists of cryptography experts and blockchain architects. They spend their time researching the latest encryption algorithms, designing efficient consensus mechanisms, ensuring the network runs 24/7 without interruption, and securing the network from hacker attacks. They don’t need to worry about how to make accurate face recognition or how to design user-friendly interfaces.
The zkMe team consists of computer vision experts and UX designers. They spend their time training AI models to read ID cards from various countries, ensuring face recognition remains accurate in low-light conditions, designing apps that are easy for ordinary people to use, and optimizing on-phone processing so it’s not slow. They don’t need to worry about how to secure the network from DDoS attacks or how to achieve consensus across thousands of nodes.
With this division of labor, the end result is better for users like Budi:
- Better privacy because original data never gets sent to servers
- Better security because there are two layers of protection (app and blockchain)
- Smoother experience because the app is designed by a team focused on user experience
- Easier verification because once is enough, usable in many places
The Future Being Built
The Midnight and zkMe collaboration continues to evolve. Both have big plans ahead.
zkMe is developing an Identity Oracle—a technology that can bridge real-world data (like government databases, bank records, or educational history) with digital proofs on the blockchain.
With an Identity Oracle, Budi could prove he has a bank account without showing his account number, prove he graduated from a certain university without showing his diploma, or prove he has no criminal record without showing a police clearance certificate. All without sacrificing privacy.
Meanwhile, Midnight continues to strengthen its infrastructure by recruiting more network guardians. Google Cloud, MoneyGram, Vodafone, and eToro have already joined. The more big validators, the more secure the network. Midnight is also developing Compact Language—a specialized programming language that makes it easier for developers to build privacy apps on top of Midnight. zkMe can build more sophisticated apps more easily.
What’s beautiful about this ecosystem is: the more apps like zkMe built on top of Midnight, the more valuable Midnight’s infrastructure becomes. The stronger Midnight’s infrastructure, the more sophisticated the apps that can be built.
This is a virtuous circle that benefits everyone: Midnight gains new projects and users, zkMe gets increasingly better infrastructure, and users get increasingly sophisticated services.
A More Humane Web3
You might ask: “So, what does all this mean for me?”
It means simply: You can start dreaming about a more humane digital world.
A world where you no longer have to hand over photos of your ID to every app you use. A world where your personal data isn’t traded on black markets. A world where privacy isn’t a luxury, but a fundamental right protected by technology.
Midnight and zkMe are building that world. Not through heroic solo efforts, but through a smarter approach: modular collaboration, each focusing on their expertise, together building something bigger than what they could build alone.
Midnight provides the land—secure, private, decentralized blockchain infrastructure.
zkMe builds the house—easy-to-use, accurate, privacy-protecting identity applications.
You live inside it—peacefully, without worrying about data leaks, without the hassle of repeated verification.
Isn’t that the digital world we all dream of?
A Final Note
The Midnight and zkMe story is still long. Both continue to develop, continue to innovate, continue to find new ways to protect user privacy in the digital age.
What’s certain: the direction is right. Towards a world where you are in control of your own data. Not corporations, not governments, not hackers.
Towards a world where privacy isn’t just a feature, but a foundation.
Towards a more humane Web3.
“Our mission at zkMe is to deliver a cutting-edge infrastructure for presenting verified credentials in a trustless and private manner, ultimately empowering users to govern their own digital identities.” — zkMe Whitepaper
“Privacy is a starting place for compliance.” — Midnight Foundation
Welcome to the future. Where your data is your own.
A Note to Readers
This piece is an invitation to imagine and build a better future together. Not just a technical explanation of two blockchain projects, but a story about how technology can be used to humanize humans—giving them back control over themselves.
If you’re a developer, maybe you’re inspired to build applications on top of existing infrastructure. If you’re an ordinary user, hopefully you’re increasingly aware that safer alternatives exist for protecting your personal data.
Because in the end, technology is just a tool. What determines its direction is us—the humans.
Want to be part of the movement towards a digital ecosystem that truly values privacy? Join the Midnight community on Discord! Here, you can engage in discussions with developers, privacy enthusiasts, and like-minded individuals about the future of data protection. Let’s work together to build a safer and more sovereign internet.
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash