**Show HN: Freebird – Authorization without Identity using VOPRF Cryptography**

The internet has a fundamental problem: its infrastructure is inherently surveillance-oriented. It's not because of malicious actors, but because useful systems require identity by default. Even the most privacy-respecting services must collect user data to function. The architecture demands it. But what if we could separate "can you?" from "who are you?" for the first time in a practical, deployable way? Meet Freebird, which uses VOPRF cryptography (Verifiable Oblivious Pseudorandom Function) to achieve just that.

**The Surveillance Problem**

We're not talking about "we promise not to look" or "privacy theater." We're talking about mathematical impossibility of surveillance. Until a subpoena, hack, acquisition, policy change, or other unforeseen event occurs, Freebird ensures that users receive unforgeable, unlinkable tokens that prove permission while revealing nothing about their identity.

**Concrete Problems Solved**

Freebird addresses concrete problems for various groups:

* Municipalities: managing access to services and resources * Healthcare systems: protecting patient data and confidentiality * Educators: ensuring student safety and anonymity in online forums * Communities: promoting open discussion and feedback without revealing identities

**Preventing Abuse Without Surveillance**

Freebird includes multiple mechanisms to prevent abuse:

* **Social Accountability**: Users invite others, and abuse traces back through the invitation chain. Bad actors get cut off – along with everyone they invited. * **Computational Cost per Token**: Prevents bot farms without collecting data. * **Proof of Humanity** via hardware authenticators: No biometrics stored, no accounts created. * **IP-based Throttling** for basic protection.

These mechanisms stack together to provide robust privacy protection. Privacy technology that requires trusting a company is indeed "privacy theater." Freebird is infrastructure, not a service – it's a foundation for building private systems.

**Proof of Concept and Implementation**

The core technology works, and funding will accelerate adoption and hardening. To lower the barrier for municipalities and community organizations:

* **Step-by-Step Deployment Guides**: Easy-to-follow instructions for integrating Freebird into existing systems. * **Integration Cookbooks** for common scenarios: detailed examples for anonymous feedback systems, token-gated forums, and municipal service portals. * **Working Examples Beyond the Demo**: Proof that this works in production.

Try Freebird without installing anything – an interactive demo shows the cryptography working in real-time. A third-party cryptographic audit will prove the implementation is correct. Let's get to work!

**Outreach and Next Steps**

Reach out to municipalities, libraries, healthcare organizations who could benefit from privacy-preserving systems. Help them understand that this technology is possible. To start:

* **Issuer on localhost:8081** * **Verifier on localhost:8082**

Let's make a difference, one token at a time.