Zero-Knowledge Proofs Enable Confidential, Verifiable Inter-Organizational Business Processes ∞ Research

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Briefing

This research addresses the critical problem of maintaining business process integrity across organizations without compromising confidential information, a tension acutely felt in regulated sectors like carbon footprinting and healthcare data sharing. The foundational breakthrough is a novel zero-knowledge proof (ZKP)-based approach that integrates ZK virtual machines (zkVMs) into business process management (BPM) engines, supporting chained verifiable computations through proof compositions. This new theory enables automated, confidential process verification, offering a scalable, verifiable, and private execution architecture without revealing sensitive data or metadata.

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Context

Before this research, inter-organizational business processes grappled with a fundamental paradox ∞ the necessity for transparency to foster trust and verify integrity clashed with the imperative to safeguard confidential business information from external parties. This theoretical limitation became particularly pronounced in regulated domains that mandate verifiable reporting but prohibit the exposure of proprietary operational data. Existing blockchain-based solutions, while offering transparency, often failed to conceal sensitive data and process internals effectively, as network participants could still observe account interactions and frequencies, thereby hindering true confidentiality.

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Analysis

The paper’s core mechanism centers on the integration of Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machines (zkVMs), specifically leveraging Risc Zero (Risc0) which utilizes zkSTARKs, directly into existing Business Process Management (BPM) engines. This novel primitive allows a “prover” organization to execute a business process and generate a cryptographic proof, a ZKP, that rigorously attests to the computation’s correctness without disclosing any underlying private inputs or the specific process specifications. A “Certification Agency” facilitates this by generating and distributing proving and verification keys. The prover uses the proving key to construct the ZKP, which is subsequently transmitted to a “verifier” party.

The verifier then employs the verification key to confirm the ZKP’s validity, thereby ensuring computational integrity and adherence to predefined standards without accessing or exposing sensitive process internals or data. This approach fundamentally differs from previous methods by supporting chained verifiable computations through proof compositions, meaning a verifying party only needs to validate the ZKP of the final activity to confirm the integrity of the entire, multi-step process.

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Parameters

Core Concept ∞ Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs)
New System/Protocol ∞ ZKP-based Verifiable Business Processes
Key Technology ∞ ZK Virtual Machines (zkVMs), Risc Zero (Risc0), zkSTARKs
Application Example ∞ Product Carbon Footprinting (PCF)
Key Authors ∞ Jannis Kiesel and Jonathan Heiß
Publication Date ∞ September 24, 2025
Source Identifier ∞ arXiv (2509.20300v1)

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Outlook

This research significantly expands the possibilities for inter-organizational data sharing and collaborative frameworks, particularly benefiting industries that demand stringent confidentiality alongside verifiable compliance. Anticipated next steps include optimizing various ZKP proving variants for enhanced efficiency within diverse process models and further refining their practical integration across the entire Business Process Management lifecycle. The automation of process verification under robust confidentiality constraints promises to unlock new paradigms for transparent and trustworthy supply chains, secure healthcare data exchanges, and auditable financial operations, ultimately reducing reliance on centralized intermediaries.

This research fundamentally advances the secure and private execution of inter-organizational business processes, establishing a paradigm where verifiable integrity coexists with absolute data confidentiality.

Signal Acquired from ∞ arXiv.org