Coconut E-Petition Implementation

TL;DR

This paper presents a practical implementation of an electronic petition system utilizing the Coconut credential scheme to ensure voter anonymity and unlinkability, with client-side cryptography and flexible server infrastructure.

Contribution

It demonstrates a real-world application of Coconut credentials for anonymous voting, combining client-side cryptography with adaptable server deployment options.

Findings

Successfully implemented a privacy-preserving e-petition system

Ensured voter anonymity and unlinkability in the system

Flexible architecture allowing server-side replacement

Abstract

In this dissertation project, we describe and implement a practical system application based on a selective disclosure credential scheme, namely the Coconut credential scheme\cite{sonnino_coconut:_2018}. The specific application here is an electronic petition system with the distinctive added feature of unlinkability as well as anonymity: such that no information about the anonymous petition voter is linkable back to the individual. In other words, there is no data leaked about who voted in the petition, just that the users who did, were indeed eligible and authorized to vote. As for the implementation, the client-side is done using JavaScript so that the client can trustlessly compute the cryptographic constructions individually, whereas the server-side is done using Node.js, but can easily be replaced by a more sophisticated and secure structure such as a permissionless blockchain platform.