Building a Zero-Knowledge Dating Platform for HIV-Positive Communities

Erlang, Vue, and Client‑Side Encryption by Design A close friend of mine works as an AIDS counsellor. One day she told me something that stayed with me: “My clients want companionship. They want marriage. They want normalcy. But they’re terrified of being exposed.” She had seen it repeatedly — people who were HIV‑positive, stable on treatment, undetectable… but isolated. Dating apps didn’t feel safe. Disclosure was complicated. Screenshots could ruin lives. A database leak would be catastrophic. Then she asked me: “Can you build something for them? But it has to be completely private.” Not “secure enough.” Not “we encrypt passwords.” Completely private. That’s where this journey started. Why Traditional Dating Apps Fail This Community Most dating platforms assume the server is a trusted party: The server stores your profile The server reads your profile The server decides who sees your profile The server can be breached, subpoenaed, or misused For HIV‑positive communities, this model i