Difference between revisions of "What is cMix?"

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All messaging between users in the xx network is sent through [https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/008/20180321:042901 cMix], a [https://xxnetwork.wiki/What_is_a_mixnet mixed network (mixnet)] anonymous communications protocol. The cMix protocol protects each xx messenger user's unique metadata—the who, what, when, where, and how of any message or activity in the app. xx messenger unlinks sender and recipient data and protects against traffic-analysis attacks that undermine many other privacy approaches found in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_routing onion routing], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server proxies], and other mixnets.


Surveillance and data privacy are significant concerns for all internet users. The services built on cMix provide a robust solution with privacy integrated in its design–it is impossible to track xx messenger users. With xx cMix, all transactions are mixed in batches called “anonymity sets” that are processed as a group. This mixing shreds all metadata and prevents third parties from analyzing activity patterns and connecting message senders to message recipients. The cMix protocol provides unprecedented consumer protection–no third party can monitor your behaviors and market to you as such. Using xx cMix allows users to interact and transact in an environment that is guaranteed to be protected and private.
See below for a description of how this works. Please note: Elixxir was the prior branding name for this part of the xx network.


All messaging between users in the xx network is sent through cMix, a [mixed network (mixnet)] anonymous communications protocol. The cMix protocol offers protection for each xx Messenger user's metadata—the who, what, when, where, and how details of any message or activity—giving them unparalleled privacy guarantees. These guarantees include unlinkability of sender and receiver, and resistance to many traffic-analysis attacks that undermine many other approaches found in onion routing, proxies, and other mixnets.
[[File:media/image1.jpg|509x305px]]


On the web and other online platforms users are surveilled everywhere they go, but the services built on cMix respect user privacy by default because the users cannot be tracked. With xx cMix, all transactions are mixed together in batches or “anonymity sets” and processed together, thereby shredding all metadata and preventing third parties from analyzing activity patterns and connecting senders to receivers. The cMix protocol provides unprecedented consumer protections by eliminating the risk posed by perverse economic incentives to correlate all of the online and offline behaviors of their users.  Using xx cMix allows users to interact and transact free from such abuse, avoiding the harms caused by privacy violations from centralized entities.
[[File:media/image1.jpg|509x358px]]


Unlike many other anonymous communications systems and mixnets, cMix aims to be secure against a global adversary that controls and monitors the internet. This design goal protects users from abuse and manipulation by foreign governments and their internet service providers. It also prevents discrimination of users based on their geographic locations.
Unlike other communications systems and mixnets that claim to provide anonymous communication, cMix guarantees complete privacy and no sharing of identifiable metadata in its design. This protects users from any privacy threats that retailers or government actors might pose. It also prevents discrimination toward users based on their geographic locations.


Whereas other mixnet designs suffer from high latency in part because of the need for real-time public-key operations, cMix—through a precomputation—eliminates all expensive realtime public-key operations at the senders, recipients, and nodes. Precomputation decreases real-time cryptographic latency and lowers computational costs for clients, greatly improving the real-time performance of cMix that performs only a few fast modular multiplications. Consequently, cMix is the first mixing suitable for low latency chat for lightweight devices.
Other mixnet designs suffer from high latency, in part, due to the need for realtime public-key operations. cMix, through a precomputation process, eliminates the need for expensive realtime public-key operations at the senders, recipients, and nodes. Precomputation decreases real-time cryptographic latency and lowers computational costs for clients, significantly improving the real-time performance of cMix as it only needs to perform a few modular multiplications. Consequently, cMix is the first mixing suitable for low-latency chats on lightweight devices.


The xx cMix protocol provides the base for anonymous communication, but there are many other protocols built on top of it to provide a seamless user experience inside the xx Messenger:  
The xx cMix protocol provides the base for anonymous communication, but there are many other protocols built on top of it to provide a seamless user experience inside xx messenger:


* End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)
* End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)
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Other Resources
Other Resources


* cMix Whitepaper
* [https://xx.network/xxcMixwhitepaper.pdf cMix Whitepaper]
* cMix Technical paper
* [https://xx.network/cmix-whitepaper.pdf cMix Technical paper]

Revision as of 22:27, 20 January 2022

All messaging between users in the xx network is sent through cMix, a mixed network (mixnet) anonymous communications protocol. The cMix protocol protects each xx messenger user's unique metadata—the who, what, when, where, and how of any message or activity in the app. xx messenger unlinks sender and recipient data and protects against traffic-analysis attacks that undermine many other privacy approaches found in onion routing, proxies, and other mixnets.

Surveillance and data privacy are significant concerns for all internet users. The services built on cMix provide a robust solution with privacy integrated in its design–it is impossible to track xx messenger users. With xx cMix, all transactions are mixed in batches called “anonymity sets” that are processed as a group. This mixing shreds all metadata and prevents third parties from analyzing activity patterns and connecting message senders to message recipients. The cMix protocol provides unprecedented consumer protection–no third party can monitor your behaviors and market to you as such. Using xx cMix allows users to interact and transact in an environment that is guaranteed to be protected and private. See below for a description of how this works. Please note: Elixxir was the prior branding name for this part of the xx network.

509x305px

509x358px

Unlike other communications systems and mixnets that claim to provide anonymous communication, cMix guarantees complete privacy and no sharing of identifiable metadata in its design. This protects users from any privacy threats that retailers or government actors might pose. It also prevents discrimination toward users based on their geographic locations.

Other mixnet designs suffer from high latency, in part, due to the need for realtime public-key operations. cMix, through a precomputation process, eliminates the need for expensive realtime public-key operations at the senders, recipients, and nodes. Precomputation decreases real-time cryptographic latency and lowers computational costs for clients, significantly improving the real-time performance of cMix as it only needs to perform a few modular multiplications. Consequently, cMix is the first mixing suitable for low-latency chats on lightweight devices.

The xx cMix protocol provides the base for anonymous communication, but there are many other protocols built on top of it to provide a seamless user experience inside xx messenger:

  • End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)
  • User Discovery
  • Anonymous Message Return
  • Insert others here

Other Resources