Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 8) Identity

Evolution moves at a glacial pace. To verify your identity online in 2016 you may be asked to scan a passport or driving licence and upload it to the cloud. This is a red flag for many and sadly the point where the Cyrpto journey ends for most.

Blockchain Based Identity

Ways that we prove identity will change dramatically in the coming years. The story of Blockchain based identities will influence:

• Trade
• E-commerce
• Social Media
• Online Reputation/Trust
• Certifications
• Compliance and KYC
• Data protection
• Birth/Death/Marriage Certificates
• Voting

Blockchain and Online Identity

For online applications such as Trade, E-Commerce and Social Media the benefit for users will be increased security and control over what is shared and with whom. Companies to watch in this space:

• https://www.onename.com online identity verification
• https://shocard.com digital identity app
• http://www.trunomi.com digital rights applied to customer data

Blockchain and Online Reputation/Trust

Escrow services like those used in the online marketplace Openbazaar will form the basis for a new service industry. Individuals will build services around reputation for arbitration.

Blockchain Identity will not only affect the Virtual World...

• Passports and ID cards
  Blockchain based apps may be the new passports and Id cards in the 21st century. It will no longer be possible for someone to forge or fake your ID. Information will flow much quicker and securely.
  Shocard are working on a proof of concept with SITA for the airline industry where passports and travel information could be stored in their app.
  ShoCard and SITA want to store your ID details on the blockchain to authenticate travelers

• Driver licence
  Your licence could be stored on a Blockchain which insurance companies, traffic police and others could link into. Speeding fines, penalty points, tax and insurance cover could all automatically be registered. That is if we are driving cars at all in the future :)

• Certification of Qualifications
  I attended a college that still gives out degree certificates written in Latin. Not too many people can read this anymore and if your working abroad you need to get the qualification translated, certified, attested ...
  Qualifications could easily be uploaded to a Blockchain which would be available for anyone to verify. Just think of any new job where all your qualifications, certificates, work experience need to be verified by the HR department. This could all be verified on a Blockchain automatically. It would save costs, time and would be impossible to forge.
  Frank Abagnale, depicted in the 2002 film Catch me if you Can, flew airliners, practised medicine and law without any qualifications. This would not have been possible if his qualifications were verifiable on a blockchain.
  http://www.blockcerts.org/ is an example where they are building apps that create, issue, view, and verify blockchain-based certificates.

• Compliance/KYC/Data Protection
  Current regimes are slow and costly. Controls need to be in place to make sure only approved people have access to data, that it's deleted after a certain period, that personal details are not shared, that data is secure etc. Blockchain based identity and record systems will be constructed that are secure, encrypted and only accessible by the relevant people for relevant periods of time. It will be possible to share and verify identities accounts and so on in a trustless environment. It will speed up KYC requirements reduce costs and reduce errors. It will also allow people to prove who they are without fear of their identity or details being stolen or used for means other than intended.
  Deloitte have published analysis on Blockchain applications in banking

• Voting
  Imagine you can cast a vote then verify that it was counted against the correct candidate! Sounds like Science fiction? No wait..
  FollowMyVote are already provide this service. Read more about Online Voting. There can now be no argument over who won the election.
  There are also interesting uses for auditing and verifying company voting records.
  Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange Launches Blockchain Voting Service

• Fraud and Identity Theft
  Passports, Driving licence, Social Security number, Bank account details. Not only can these treasure troves of information all be forged or stolen, your reputation/credit score can be tarnished forever.

Take your Privacy Back!

Every time you move house, apply for a new utility or even download a new app you may be asked for sensitive details.

• Who are you sharing this data with?
• How are they using it?
• Is it stored securely?

The answer to these questions is not clear at best and most of the time very worrying.

High Profile data breachs like Yahoos Data Breach are only going to become more prevalent.

Trunomis is a solution in this space for the Banking Industry but similar models could be used by Utility companies, landlords etc.

Conclusion

If you have an immutable ledger which anyone can access and which cannot be forged you have an ideal place to store someones identity. Not only with applications in the virtual world but with applications any place where peoples identity needs to be verified.
Blockchain based Identity systems will

• reduce costs of compliance and identity verification
• increase security of user data
• reduce fraud and forgery of data
• increase transparency of how data is used
• share data while maintaining privacy and not impacting on users rights
• give back control to people over their identity and personal data

Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.

Previous Posts in this series

Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin
Blockchain - Beyond Bitcoin (Part 2)
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 3) Banking
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 4) Trade / Ecommerce
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 5) Investments and Insurance
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 6) Social Media, Digital Media and Publishing
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 7) Social and Public Good

Images have been sourced from https://pixabay.com