Ruben De Smet is a postdoctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, specializing in cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs with a strong focus on data privacy. He earned his MSc degree in Engineering from VUB in 2018, and his PhD in engineering in 2024, and is currently pursuing his research in the area of secure peer-to-peer architectures for social networking applications.

Ruben's interest lies in the intersection of security, privacy, and user autonomy, leveraging zero-knowledge proofs to create robust privacy mechanisms. His aim is to challenge the boundaries of conventional social networking by designing systems that prioritize user consent and data ownership.