# ZecBlock Private: look up transactions, blocks and addresses with PIR **URL:** \ **Category:** Zcash Apps\ **Created:** [November 12, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zecblock-private-look-up-transactions-blocks-and-addresses-with-pir/59258 "2026-11-12T20:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kenbak](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/kenbak/32/40417_2.png) [@Kenbak](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/Kenbak)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zecblock-private-look-up-transactions-blocks-and-addresses-with-pir/59258/1 "2026-11-12T20:51:08Z")
Hi all, Happy to launch **[private.zecblock.com](https://private.zecblock.com)**, a version of ZecBlock where the server doesn’t learn what you look up. ZecBlock Private uses **PIR (Private Information Retrieval)**. **How it works** - Your browser encrypts the search before sending it. The transaction ID, block or address never leaves your device in readable form. - The server works through the whole dataset to answer, without knowing which record you asked for. - It sends back one encrypted answer, and only your browser can decrypt it. - A search for something that exists looks the same as a search for something that doesn’t. As far as we know, it’s the first full block explorer (transactions, blocks and addresses) built on PIR. Previous PIR explorer demos covered narrower lookups, such as address balances. **Check it yourself** Open your browser’s developer tools (Inspect → Network) and search for something. Every request of the same kind is the same size, and none of them contains what you typed. After each search, the site also shows a short summary of exactly what your browser sent. **Details** - Data stays close to the chain tip: new blocks are published every few seconds, typically within about 20 seconds of the regular explorer. - Each data publication is signed, and your browser checks every result against it. - Searches are heavier than on a normal explorer, around 1.2 MB uploaded for a transaction lookup and 0.4 MB for an address lookup. That’s the cost of the server not knowing what you asked for. > ---
**Author:** ![dorianvp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/dorianvp/32/35843_2.png) [@dorianvp](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/dorianvp)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 9:47pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zecblock-private-look-up-transactions-blocks-and-addresses-with-pir/59258/2 "2026-11-12T21:47:44Z")
Neat! About the pir client package, will you be releasing that as an npm package? ---
**Author:** ![shieldedonly](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/shieldedonly/32/43931_2.png) [@shieldedonly](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/shieldedonly)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 10:21pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zecblock-private-look-up-transactions-blocks-and-addresses-with-pir/59258/3 "2026-11-12T22:21:11Z")
Wow, this is incredible! I really admire all the hard work you’ve put into building ZecBlock, @Kenbak. It’s exciting to see the Zcash ecosystem grow with tools that put privacy first! 🛡 ❤ ---
**Author:** ![Kenbak](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/kenbak/32/40417_2.png) [@Kenbak](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/Kenbak)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2026, 9:43am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zecblock-private-look-up-transactions-blocks-and-addresses-with-pir/59258/4 "2026-11-13T09:43:14Z")
Not yet, but it’s the plan eventually. Right now it’s a small Rust → WASM wrapper in the repo ([prototype/pir-browser](https://github.com/Kenbak/zecblock/tree/main/prototype/pir-browser)), built on Valar’s open-source PIR libraries.