Viewing Key

A viewing key allows selective disclosure of shielded transaction data. In modern account-based usage, viewing authority applies to a whole account — every address it has generated or will generate — rather than to a single address. An incoming viewing key reveals the payments the account received (amounts, memos, receiving addresses); a full viewing key also reveals when funds were spent and, for transactions built in the standard way, where they went. Neither can spend or move the funds, which requires the separate spending key. Modern wallets bundle these per-pool keys into Unified Viewing Keys (uview1… for full, uivk1… for incoming).

This is useful for view-only wallets, auditing and accounting: a third party can inspect an account without the activity becoming public and without receiving control of the funds. Because a shared viewing key cannot be revoked and covers the account's past and future activity, treat it as a sensitive, persistent read-access credential and share it only for dedicated accounts.