Understanding the Encryption Option
Published: March 2025 | Last updated: March 2025
When storing your files and information on the Lynx blockchain, you have an important choice to make: should you encrypt your data or not? This article explains what this choice means in simple terms and helps you decide when to use each option.
What Does Encryption Mean for Your Data?
Think of encryption like a lockbox for your information. When you encrypt your data:
Your information is scrambled by Lynx automatically before being stored on the blockchain - this happens regardless of whether you let Lynx generate a random asset UUID or you provide your own custom asset UUID value
Only someone with the right "key" (in this case, your asset UUID) can unscramble and view it
Even if someone discovers your data on the blockchain, they can't make sense of it without your key
Without encryption, your data is stored as-is. While still protected by our UUID obfuscation system (which hides the location of your data), the actual content remains in its original form.
Your Asset UUID: Both Address and Key
Here's something crucial to understand: The asset UUID functions as both its address and its decryption key.
This means:
When you store an encrypted file, the system uses your asset UUID to encrypt it
When you retrieve the file, that same asset UUID is needed to decrypt it
If you share your asset UUID with someone, you're essentially giving them the key to unlock your data
Think of it like sharing the address and key to a safety deposit box. Anyone who has this information can find and open the box.
Importantly, the asset UUID itself is never stored directly on the blockchain. This means it cannot be guessed or detected by examining the chain history. The only way someone can access your encrypted data is if you deliberately share the asset UUID with them.
Keeping Your Data Secure
For encrypted assets that you want to keep private:
Never share the asset UUID with untrusted parties
Store your asset UUIDs securely, as losing them means losing access to your data
Consider implementing your own system for tracking which asset UUIDs belong to which files
If you do need to share access to an encrypted file, be aware that sharing its asset UUID grants complete access to view the file's contents.
When Should You Encrypt Your Data?
Consider encryption when storing:
Sensitive company information
Personal data
Private documents
Anything you wouldn't want others to potentially access
You might skip encryption for:
Public information that doesn't need protection
Data where quick access is more important than security
Large files where performance matters more than privacy
Information you plan to share widely anyway
How to Choose Encryption When Storing Data
Enabling encryption is simple. When storing your data, you'll add a simple parameter:
If you don't specify the 'encrypt' parameter, your data will be stored without encryption by default.
What This Means for You
The power of choice is in your hands. By making encryption optional, we let you decide the right balance between security and performance for each piece of data you store. Just remember that for encrypted data, the security of your information depends on keeping your asset UUIDs private.
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