Group Discounts Compatible with Buyer Privacy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a protocol enabling group discounts that preserve buyer privacy by allowing groups to prove their size anonymously, using personal devices and anonymous payments.

Contribution

It presents a novel privacy-preserving protocol for group discounts that does not require revealing individual identities, compatible with existing anonymous payment systems.

Findings

Protocol successfully proves group size without identity disclosure

Ensures buyer anonymity during group discount transactions

Compatible with current anonymous payment methods

Abstract

We show how group discounts can be offered without forcing buyers to surrender their anonymity, as long as buyers can use their own computing devices (e.g. smartphone, tablet or computer) to perform a purchase. Specifically, we present a protocol for privacy-preserving group discounts. The protocol allows a group of buyers to prove how many they are without disclosing their identities. Coupled with an anonymous payment system, this makes group discounts compatible with buyer privacy (that is, buyer anonymity).