The dependency on digital solutions has never been as big as it is nowadays. I always find it an interesting question to ask myself to what extent I rely on digital technologies. When I go to the university I book a Felyx or Check (shared e-scooters); once at university I open my laptop and check the news on my favorite news websites; for study I have to log in to Canvas; I pay my lunch with Apple pay; in the evening I have to book the gym with an application; and so on.
I am a true advocate of all these digital advantages as it makes our lives a lot easier and more efficient. However, an increasing online presence also means that with every action we give away a bit more of our digital identity. With big tech companies being sued because of security and privacy reasons, we also have to ask ourselves the question how this will impact us.
The current digital identity framework makes use of centralized digital identity systems. This means that discrete identities are created online such as an account on social media and identity issuance by governments. This created a fragmented digital network with the risk of data silo’s that could be hacked. It is not only the knowledge that digital companies gather about us, but also the risk of losing this data to parties over which we have even less control. Therefore, it is time for change, and this change is close.
Self-sovereign identity solutions allow online users to recover ownership and control over their verifiable credentials. By using blockchain as a fundamental technology to these solutions, a decentralized digital identity framework is applied where information and consent of the issues is required to share the information. This decreases the risk of personal data being hacked and unintended sharing of this personal data. Also, the verification of a user’s identity for solutions such as Felyx can become more efficient and reliable as a user’s financial footprint issued by the bank can easily be applied. The London-based start-up Cheqd recently raised 2.06 million dollars. This start-up is currently building a SSI product and will use this investment to accelerate development of their product. The digital footprint it creates can be stored on devices such as your mobile phone and be used to verify a user’s identity or information such as vaccine status. The decentralized nature of these solutions means that such information won’t be stored on online databases, increasing security and decreasing likelihood of fraud.
It has to be said that such digital identity alternatives don’t have the ability to replace current solutions, yet. Being said, the increasing need for online security and privacy creates opportunities for such solutions and therefore I think that we definitely have to be open for such alternatives. Someday, we don’t need physical identification anymore…
<https://ibsintelligence.com/ibsi-news/cheqd-raises-2-6-million-to-drive-the-uptake-of-digital-ids/>
<https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/better-but-still-not-good-making-sense-of-big-techs-privacy-push/>
