SIGILO

Problem Statement

Sigilo is a stealth whistleblowing system built for high-risk environments where telling the truth can lead to retaliation or death. The interface hides itself as a simple calculator, but behind it runs a privacy-preserving pipeline that allows anyone to submit evidence without exposing their identity. We use VLayer zkTLS for role verification without revealing who the user is and EVVM for immutable evidence anchoring as blockchain infrastructure. When the internet is unavailable, Sigilo transmits data ultrasonically using GGWave between air-gapped devices.Sigilo also generates an encrypted network graph that correlates submitted reports with related actors, topics, events, and regions — without revealing any identities. This lets NGOs, journalists, and compliance teams detect patterns, link incidents, and understand systemic risks while maintaining strong anonymity guarantees. The result is a secure channel where evidence can move, correlations can emerge, but individuals cannot be hunted.

Solution

Sigilo was built as a stealth whistleblowing system disguised as a working calculator UI in a Next.js app. Behind this decoy interface, the dashboard unlocks the secure reporting pipeline. We integrated EVVM to anchor evidence hashes on-chain and provide verifiable immutability without revealing user identity. VLayer’s zkTLS flow was used to verify that a reporter belongs to a legitimate role (such as “journalist” or “official”) without disclosing which individual they are.For connectivity under hostile conditions, we implemented GGWave in the browser to encode small encrypted messages into ultrasonic sound, enabling air-gapped transmissions when the internet is unavailable or compromised. On the receiver side, the app listens via microphone, decodes the waveform, and triggers the on-chain proof anchoring flow — a very hacky but powerful way to bypass shutdowns and surveillance.The frontend includes a stealth landing page, a calculator-based hidden UI, an encrypted reporting panel, and an early version of the network graph visualizer linking reports by topic, actor, and region. Everything was built in Next.js + TypeScript with custom particle effects for the “privacy graph” aesthetic. All partner technologies (EVVM, VLayer, Protocol Labs - and future integration with NYM Network for mix network nodes to make it impossible to track the IP address) were chosen because they allow Sigilo to operate with minimal metadata leakage and no trust in centralized servers.