TallyNetworks: Protecting your private opinions with edge-centric computing

Abstract

In this paper we claim that your private opinions cannot be controlled by a single centralized entity. Some examples of this are user participation in open polls or rating (stars, like/dislike) services and persons in a community. To this aim, we present TallyNetworks, an edge-centric distributed overlay that aims to provide end-to-end verifiability of online opinions by leveraging the computing resources (TallyBoxes) of users and third-party organizations. Thanks to blind signatures, pseudonyms and anonymous channels, we ensure that the edge nodes (TallyBoxes) are blind and guarantee anonymity and privacy. Thanks to a one-hop structured overlay and a global membership protocol using redundant broadcasting and syncing, we ensure that messages reach all nodes in the network (integrity, robustness), and that vote information can be obtained and checked from different points (end-to-end verifiability).