Paper 2026/2039

ZK-JPEG: Zero-knowledge Image Editing and Compression

Steve Lu , Stealth Software Technologies, Inc.

Kimberlee Model , Stealth Software Technologies, Inc.

Joseph Near , University of Vermont

Abstract

Tools for generating deep fake photographs are proliferating with greater ease of use and prominence in pop culture. Image authentication tools can defeat these deceitful developments by verifying that a digital image was actually produced by a physical camera. The challenge is that these tools must be robust to desirable image transformations.

Camera attestation uses digital signatures to prove an image's provenance from a camera. Lossy compression makes minute changes in order to reduce an image's size, and blurring or redacting regions of an image can protect its subjects. These changes invalidate an image's signature.…