Highlights
- How to Obtain a ESelfKey iD
- ESelfKey iD Benefits
- Conclusions
How to Obtain a ESelfKey iD
Prerequisites
Obtaining your very own ESelfKey iD is a simple process. You will need:
- A passport or a government-issued iD.
- A valid email address.
- A Laptop/PC with a webcam to successfully take a selfie.
- Metamask wallet browser extension set up. For important details, please open the following link.
- MATIC in the wallet - instructions on how to obtain MATIC will be provided within the wallet.
These are crucial to verify your identity and ensure that you are indeed the individual you claim to be.
Please note that certain steps may take varying amounts of time to complete, ranging from a few seconds to several minutes. Your patience is appreciated as the process unfolds.
Step One: Getting started
The first step is to access ESelfKey DAO’s official website and connect your wallet. After your wallet connects, simply press the Metamask button to start your journey.
Step Two: Input Email Address and agree with Terms
Once you’ve completed the first step, you will be required to initiate the verification process. You must enter a valid email address and you must make sure to acknowledge ESelfKey DAO’s Privacy Policy by checking the box below.
Step Three: Invitation to join KYC Application
After completing the second step, you will receive an email from [email protected], with the title “Invitation to join KYC Application”.
Please make sure to also double check your spam folder if the email did not arrive. If you accidentally introduced a typo in the email address, you can try to send the invitation again.
The email should open to the following:
After clicking on the “Start the KYC application” button, you will be redirected to the application page, where you will begin the KYC (know your customer) verification process.
The purpose of KYC in ESelfKey DAO is to verify the authenticity and uniqueness of each individual and confirm their claimed identity. This measure prevents users owning more than one ESelfKey iD and ensures that the ESelfKey DAO and its partners are sybil or bot-free.
Step Four: Connecting Wallet and Signing
Before beginning your KYC verification process, you'll be prompted to connect your digital wallet and provide a signature.
You're now starting the onboarding process. Please read each instruction thoroughly to successfully complete each step.
Step Five: ID Document verification
Before proceeding, it's essential to read and agree to the KYCS.AI Privacy Policy & Terms of Service. Make sure to scroll through the entire document for the next button to activate.
While verification via other devices is possible using a QR code, it's advisable to continue on a desktop or laptop.
A brief guide will be provided to demonstrate how to position your ID or passport for the desktop or laptop camera to capture a photo. Alternatively, you can upload the document directly from your computer.
It's crucial that the document is clear, fully visible, not tilted, and not cropped. If the upload fails, please make sure the guidelines are followed and attempt the upload again.
Step Six: Selfie Check
The next, and one of the most crucial steps in the process, is the selfie check. Given that the number of attempts is limited to only three, you must be extra cautious to respect the following guidelines before pressing the photo button:
- Make sure that you are facing the camera directly.
- You must be in good light, so that all your features are visible.
- Position your face close enough to the camera to fit within the oval guide provided.
Step Seven: Details and Information
After passing the selfie check, you will be required to confirm the following:
Please make sure that the fields are filled in correctly before continuing to the next step.
Following this, you will need to confirm additional details, such as your date of birth, nationality, and country of residence. These fields must be completed before proceeding to the next step.
The final step will be to review the information you've submitted for accuracy. Once you submit the form, you won't be able to make any further changes.
Step Eight: Verification and Onboarding
The verification process can take a few minutes up to a few hours but if all is well, your application will be approved. If you’ve successfully completed the KYC process, you will receive an email redirecting you to selfkey.app.org.
Make sure you thoroughly read, understand, and agree with the terms of service before proceeding.
Step Nine: Claiming your ESelfKey iD SBT
Once you've finished the preceding step, you'll be able to claim your ESelfKey iD. This involves an additional selfie check as an added security measure.
Please make sure that the additional selfie matches the one taken during onboarding and that you check the agreement box before proceeding.
With this final step, you’ve completed your onboarding.
If you’re experiencing any issues during or after obtaining your ESelfKey iD, please make sure to open a support ticket. ESelfKey DAO is here to provide assistance every step of the way, as promptly as possible.
ESelfKey iD Benefits
Congratulations on obtaining your very own ESelfKey iD SBT! Now that you’re a valued member of ESelfKey DAO, it is vital to take note of all the perks and benefits you can enjoy as a proud ESelfKey iD user.
Claiming SELF tokens
Upon completing onboarding, each new ESelfKey iD user has the opportunity to claim a generous 50 SELF tokens to ignite their journey. This gesture serves as a token of appreciation and a heartfelt welcome from ESelfKey DAO.
However, the initial 50 SELF tokens must be manually claimed by the user, ensuring active participation in the process.
Redeeming Invite Code
Each ESelfKey iD holder receives a unique invite code, which remains usable indefinitely. This code offers one of the simplest means to accumulate SELF tokens while also fostering the growth and expansion of the DAO.
To benefit, users merely need to distribute their code among friends, family, and acquaintances. For each eligible member successfully onboarded into ESelfKey DAO using this code, both the user and the referred individual stand to potentially qualify for SELF tokens.
With the invite code's indefinite usability, it presents an exceptional chance for active members to consistently build their SELF holdings over time.
Credential Locking
Within the ESelfKey iD framework, Credential Locking serves as an added layer of security for online identity verification. This process typically involves the following steps:
- Users must provide a selfie as part of the initial KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
- For continued access to ESelfKey DAO, users undergo additional selfie checks.
- Upon successful check, users receive a credential that can be locked using KEY. This verification procedure ensures the authentication of users' identities, potentially enhancing their digital security.
By securing KEY on their credentials, users actively contribute to fortifying the security of the ESelfKey DAO ecosystem and may have the opportunity to mint SELF tokens themselves.
Conclusions
Through the development of cutting-edge digital solutions, ESelfKey DAO aims to erect barriers against cyber threats that could result in identity theft. One such solution could be ESelfKey iD.
Leveraging the remarkable capabilities of artificial intelligence, ESelfKey iD stands ready to counter the risks posed by data breaches and identity theft. Moreover, it offers unique advantages and presents opportunities for active members of the ESelfKey DAO community.
If you're prepared to enhance your digital identity management, seize the opportunity to acquire your very own ESelfKey iD today!
Stay up to date with ESelfKey on Discord, Telegram, and Subscribe to the official ESelfKey
Newsletter to receive new information!
Note:
We believe the information is correct as of the date stated, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. We reserve the right not to update or modify it in the future. Please verify all information independently.
This communication is for informational purposes only. It is not legal or investment advice or service. We do not intend to offer, solicit, or recommend investment advisory services or buy, sell, or hold digital assets. We do not solicit or offer to buy or sell any financial instrument.
SELF and KEY tokens, SBTs, and NFTs associated with the ESelfKey ecosystem have no monetary value or utility outside of the ESelfKey ecosystem, are not ascribed any price or conversion ratio by ESelfKey and its affiliates, and do not represent ownership interests or confer any rights to profits or revenues.
These tokens should not be purchased for speculative reasons or considered investments. By engaging with ESelfKey, you acknowledge and agree to the applicable terms and any associated risks. We recommend consulting with legal and financial professionals before participating in the ESelfKey ecosystem and related transactions.
This document may contain statements regarding future events based on current expectations. However, some risks and uncertainties could cause results to differ. The views expressed here were based on the information that may change if new information becomes available.
]]>Have you ever wondered what happens to your personal data once you share it with a website or an application? Have you thought about where your information is stored and who has access to it? Were you aware that data breaches happen daily and your information is at risk of being compromised at any time?
This article touches upon a new technology which is currently being developed to help you manage your private information online. In the near future, you will no longer have to rely on other parties that might put your sensitive, valuable, or personal data in danger.
We’ll be discussing the concept of self sovereign identity (SSID), how it works and how it impacts our daily lives as individuals operating in a digital world.
We will thoroughly cover the following topics:
- Online Safety
- How will Self Sovereign Identity improve our online activities?
- Self Sovereign Identity
- Issues with the current implementation of Self Sovereign Identity
- How can the current Self Sovereign Identity implementation be improved and scaled?
- The Trust Triangle
- Agents of The Trust Triangle
- Trust in the digital world
- The Three Pillars of Self Sovereign Identity
- Blockchains
- Decentralized Identifiers
- Verifiable Credentials
- Zero Knowledge Proofs
- Conclusions
Online Safety
Digital revolution: both a blessing and a curse
In the past several decades, mankind has shown magnificent progress in computer science. So much so that society quickly became accustomed to using Information and Communication Technologies on a daily basis. Whether it is for recreational purposes, communication, work or education, mundane tasks are made significantly easier with the help of cutting-edge technology and wireless systems.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is capable of performing convenient assignments, such as reading, generating, integrating, and theorizing information. However, it is also heading dangerously fast towards mimicking a trait which, up until now, has been uniquely human: identity.
When personal data is leaked, AI can potentially make use of that information to steal or forge human identities. Thankfully, the future will also bring ways to prevent that. A Self-Sovereign Identity solution is being developed to protect our data from being stolen and sold.
How safe is it really out there?
Using technology and having a digital presence has become so common nowadays that many people don’t think twice about the security of their personal information.
Although they are within the safety of their homes, their data is still potentially visible to millions of users online. Among those millions, there are many individuals with bad intentions, who look for ways to use other people’s private data for their own personal benefit.
More often than not, however, it is entities that individuals are supposed to trust who end up selling or divulging their personal information to other parties. And those parties, whether willingly or not, will put that personal information at risk of being unlawfully used by bad players.
At the moment, unfortunately, people have come to depend on centralized systems in order to benefit from online services to perform their daily tasks. Without those online services, it would be impossible for individuals to function in the present day society.
It is more of an obligation rather than a choice,and it has become so normal that we simply go with the flow. Otherwise, we will not be able to keep up with the fast-paced changes in the way we work, study, and communicate.
Our digital identities
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to individuals, firms or organizations is being stored online in the form of digital data. This collection of digital data is then used to build our digital identity.
A digital identity is used to facilitate access to services that make it easy for computers to efficiently mediate transactions between two or more individuals. The web provides us with a quick way of performing these transactions. However, it is not the safest place to store our private information.
Data breaches happen on a daily basis without our knowledge. Through data breaches, important and valuable information can be stolen and sold, including our very own digital identities.
Ideally, individuals should be able to make use of the advanced, modern day technology without the risk of their private data ending up in the wrong hands. In order for that to happen, individuals need to have more control over how their information is stored and who has access to view or share it, at all times.
The illusion of choice
Nowadays, control seems less impactful on our lives, because the deception of freedom is given to us through choices. However, when access to necessary modern applications is being restricted unless personal data is consensually shared, choice becomes an illusion.
With the choice to opt in being enforced, people have grown used to accepting the privacy policies of applications without a second thought. These policies, that we barely even bother to read, do mention how data is shared with third parties. However, we cannot do anything but blindly trust that service providers will not abuse or mishandle our data.
At the moment there is only the illusion of consent, of trust, all in the detriment of the individual. Because of this deceitful way of forcing users to consent to their data being used, trust between individuals is becoming more and more difficult to establish.
SSID aims to dispel these illusions and bring authentic consent and trust to the mainstream.
Seeking safety in a digital world
Sadly, Big Tech often profits off of individuals at the expense of the latter’s safety, which may lead up to identity theft.
Many users are unaware of the unlawful incidents happening underneath the brightly colored backgrounds of websites and applications as they perform their daily online tasks. Living under the impression that, as long as there is no malware alert on their devices, they have nothing to be concerned about.
The alarming truth, however, is that security violations occur on a daily basis. These cumulative cyber attacks can potentially cause millions of dollars in damages to the individuals whose data was involved.
How will Self Sovereign Identity improve our online activities?
Fortunately, a solution to the above-mentioned risks is currently being developed by ESelfKey. It will be the sword and shield for individuals to function and perform transactions in the safest way possible.
Self sovereign identity not only gives back the freedom of choice, but it also prevents this kind of disaster from happening. SSID users give access only to individuals that they wish to engage with. During this interaction, only a very limited amount of information is shared.
Therefore, sensitive, protected and important data is less likely to be sold to or shared with harmful individuals and organizations. Self sovereign identity was conceived to prevent data leakage in this sense. It gives users the power not only to manage and control, but also to protect what they deem valuable.
Self Sovereign Identity
A brief introduction
Self sovereign identity (SSID) is a new way of managing digital identities, which aims to put individuals in control of how their accounts and private information are managed. With SSID, individuals have full ownership over their personal data. They no longer need to rely on centralized systems that might share their data with unknown parties for personal gain.
Users can store their private information into their devices and present it for validation when it is specifically needed. This way, the risk of having their data compromised is considerably reduced. Individuals are in complete control over how their information is used and stored, at all times.
How self sovereign identity is currently being implemented
Once Self Sovereign Identity users store their private data on their devices, they can quickly take the opportunity to interact with trusted partners. In order to benefit from the services offered by these trusted partners, users need to accept the processing of their information by the partners. This is declared by the relying party once the user attempts to onboard into their services.
Issues with the current implementation of Self Sovereign Identity
Adoption and Convenience
At the moment, SSID users must store their data on their private device instead of the traditional central database. This method allows the users to have full control of their personal data. On the down side, the flow by which users interact with the system is less convenient than centralized alternatives.
Storing data on one private device makes it difficult for it to be accessed by the user’s other devices. Individuals have to manually introduce their information into devices they want to use, which can become time consuming and frustrating.
Scalability
Currently, users can only exercise their self sovereign rights with partners within the SSID environment. More so, individuals need to trust that the parties they choose to interact with will handle their personal data with respect to their privacy and store it securely.
How can the current Self Sovereign Identity implementation be improved and scaled?
Should we use Centralized Systems for convenience?
Centrally controlled systems are databases in which an individual’s digital identity is stored in one or more servers belonging to a centralized entity. Once personal data is stored in this type of server, an individual has no way of knowing who has access to it, who it is shared with, or where it ends up.
When personal data is being shared with unknown, third parties, there is a high risk of unintentional information disclosure. This can lead to dire consequences like identity theft or secret information being disclosed to the public, stolen or sold.
While centralized systems are not necessarily malicious, their security is weak, which leads to data leakage. With AI progressing alarmingly fast, this is a particularly serious concern. As a conclusion, centralized systems can not be used to improve the adoption and scalability of SSID solutions.
Are Decentralized Systems a better option?
On the polar opposite of centralized systems are decentralized systems. This type of system stores and verifies information in multiple computers that work together as nodes in a network, popularly known as a blockchain.
By transferring the control from a centralized entity to a dispersed group, decentralized systems aim to reach a level of fairness among its users, without one individual having authority over the other.
The way data is stored in a decentralized system makes it very difficult for malicious parties to manipulate it, because it is secured by the blockchain. A decentralized system is perfect for storing public and openly-accessible data, such as a record of transactions.
However, storing personally identifiable information (PII) in a decentralized system is highly unadvised, even if it is encrypted. PII can be anything from full name, phone number, full date of birth, full address, or credit card information.
Once data is made public, it can not be erased or changed, and it is openly accessible to anyone. Therefore, decentralized systems alone are not ideal for storing private information, due to inevitable and permanent loss of privacy.
They are part of the solution, though, and we will discuss in the following sections.
Is there a solution to this dilemma, then?
At the moment, SelfKey is actively working on and is committed to delivering an ideal solution to increase the adoption of SSID, using cutting-edge technology.
In the next segments we will thoroughly discuss ESelfKey’s proposed solution, which pertains to:
- The Trust Triangle
- The Three Pillars of self sovereign identity
- Zero Knowledge Proofs
The Trust Triangle
Presently, we are accustomed to the traditional “peer-to-peer” interactions between identity owners and verifiers. To better facilitate the goals of SSI, a three-party system is proposed. In this triangle, two individuals that want to interact securely can rely on a third party to issue and to confirm the authenticity of their credentials.
For example:
- We have individual A and individual B, two entities who are about to make an exchange. B has obtained their verifiable credentials (personal data that can be checked for validity) from C, a third, neutral party. C is legally permitted to vouch for B’s authenticity.
- B wants to make a purchase with A, but the services provided by A are age-restricted. Therefore, A must check with C if B legally qualifies to access that kind of service.
- In this case, there is only one specific inquiry that must be clarified: whether B is a legal adult. That is the only information that C will validate with A.
- A does not have access to extra information that would otherwise be physically printed on an ID or a passport. This information can be name, full address, full date of birth, social security number, photos, etc. Basically, any identifier that B does not want to share with A or to divulge to the public.
- This also eliminates the risk of A, if potentially ill-intended, retaining private information from B. There is no visible data for A to read and memorize. There is only C’s confirmation that B qualifies (or not) to purchase a service from A, without giving out specific details.
This applies to any kind of identifier which is needed to validate interactions between persons or companies. The risk of personal data being visible to individuals outside of the trust triangle is eliminated this way. And even within the trust triangle, only the minimum, relevant information will be shown or confirmed.
Agents of The Trust Triangle
The issuer is the entity that releases verifiable credentials after verifying the claims given by the holder.
- It is typically an institution, an organization or an individual who possesses the legal authority to verify and to vouch for the holder’s authenticity.
- Examples of issuers are governmental institutions; universities, departments, companies, agencies, authorities, training institutions, etc.
- The issuer is a neutral party whose role is only to validate a claim in a holder-verifier transaction.
The holder (data owner) is the individual, a person, a company or an organization who owns unique, personal data.
- The holder earns verifiable credentials after providing proof of authenticity to the issuer.
- The data owner will use those verifiable credentials to prove authenticity before benefiting from various services, making purchases or transactions.
The verifier (relying party) is the entity which verifies a holder’s verifiable credentials.
- The relying party will need to verify only a specific piece of information. Only the bare minimum which is relevant to provide a service to the holder.
- The verifier checks if the holder’s data is issued by a competent and legally authorized issuer.
- The verifier makes sure that the holder’s data has not been tampered with, forged, expired or revoked.
Trust in the digital world
What makes this triangle work is that the three parties are willing to trust one another. The element of trust is important, especially in a time where information forgery and theft happen quite frequently. But within a trust triangle, the user (or holder), has complete control over the management and visibility of their data.
As stated above, digital identities are the counterparts of physical identities that are verified through paper documents. The way trust works digitally is similar to the real, tangible world. However, the consequences of having personal information exposed to the public digitally are much greater.
Having to trust a centralized database is more or less forced upon individuals. Otherwise they couldn’t benefit from services required to perform daily transactions, either for personal or professional gain. Within a trust triangle, SSID can facilitate these daily transactions without holders having to concede to “blind trust” and risking the safety of their personal data.
The Three Pillars of Self Sovereign Identity
Within the trust-triangle framework, there are three main components, or “pillars”, that enable the realization of the ideal solution SSID is aiming to achieve:
- Blockchains
- Decentralized Identifiers
- Verifiable Credentials
Blockchains
A blockchain is a ledger which is shared across thousands of computers around the world. These computers act like nodes within a network, storing and verifying information in a way that makes it nearly impossible to modify or cheat the system.
Within a blockchain, data is saved like a compilation of records, linked to one another. Each user has a copy of this collection, which makes it particularly difficult for hackers to unlawfully modify the information stored within.
To enhance security, data is protected using complex cryptography which, at the moment, cannot be deciphered by malignant parties. The blockchain will provide the security layer necessary for users and relying parties to interact within the SSID framework.
Decentralized Identifiers
DIDs, for short, are the digital counterparts of physical documents, IDs, passports or licenses used to verify one’s identity.
What qualifies as an identifier is any kind of information that proves an individual’s identity and individuality. Traditionally, identifiers are issued and stored by centralized systems, such as governmental institutions and organizations.
Decentralized identifiers no longer depend on a central system to manage, issue, and store valuable, private information. They ensure that individuals are able to generate their own identifiers with the help of systems that they trust. Individuals can then use cryptographic proof, such as digital signatures, to authenticate their new identifiers as their own.
Decentralized identifiers are unique. They cannot be forged or stolen, because identity itself is unique and pertaining to only one individual. For example, a digital wallet address can be used as a decentralized identifier.
Verifiable Credentials
Verifiable credentials are digital versions of physical, paper documents used by persons, businesses, and organizations to identify themselves. Individuals can also use them to prove that they are qualified to access a service or perform a transaction.
Verifiable credentials are, but not limited to: digital birth certificates, digital education certificates, digital licenses, digital employee identification cards.
Verifiable credentials are issued in a tamper-evident manner that is respectful of the individual’s privacy. Bad players cannot make any unauthorized attempt to modify or forge digital documents without leaving evidence behind. This is something that a relying party will verify at each check.
In the physical world, a tamper-proof document would be sealed within multiple layers that are locked in a specific manner. If anyone attempts to open them, they cannot rearrange the layers in the original way. There is visible evidence that someone has unsealed and tampered with the document.
Using such a tamper-proof document, holders can present them to issuers and be verified immediately. This makes onboarding even more convenient than what centralized services offer nowadays.
But how do individuals make use of these credentials? We believe that the answer to that question lies within Zero Knowledge flows detailed below.
Zero Knowledge
In the current context, the concept of zero knowledge simply means that a relying party (verifier) does not need any additional information, other than the necessary minimum, to confirm whether a data owner (holder) qualifies for the service they provide or not.
Using the zero-knowledge proof method within a trust triangle, participants will benefit from secure interactions. This is because their full personal information does not need to be revealed in the majority of interactions.
Let’s revisit our previous example but with ZK in mind:
- Holder A wishes to access Verifier B’s services, which are age-restricted.
- B needs to verify with Issuer C whether A qualifies for said services.
- C will confirm whether A is of age or not, without revealing the full date of birth, or specific age. Confirmation is expressed in the form of a ZK proof.
- B will not have access to any kind of additional information, like location, actual date of birth, full name, full address, gender, etc. Likewise, B will not be retaining any data, because there will be no information for B to memorize or share outside of the interaction with A.
Conclusions
The quick progress of technology is both thrilling and anxiety-inducing. It can be challenging to adapt to these fast-paced changes. However, there will always be ways to combat the threat of being controlled by an ill-intended higher power.
Self Sovereign Identity is keeping pace with this constant technological uprising, making sure to protect its users. It aims to maintain the ideal that there’s a choice that doesn’t trap individuals in exhausting, exploitative loops.
Its goal is to continuously certify its users to reach their full professional and personal potential. To restore each individual’s ability to be the sole controller of their PII in their digital lives.
ESelfKey is restlessly working towards achieving ways for users to be able to safely engage with partners in an environment that is secure and neutral. At the moment, SSID is an ideal, a work in progress. ESelfKey has the potential to become the bridge that will take its users towards a much safer and empowering future.
Stay up to date with ESelfKey on Discord, Telegram, and Subscribe to the blog to receive new information!
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Luckily a solution is already at hand.
The invention of blockchain technology by Satoshi Nakamoto heralded a new wave of innovation from individuals and companies able to see its huge potential. In a world constantly undergoing rapid and fundamental change, the opportunities provided by a decentralized, trustless ledger are still awe-inspiring.
In this blog post we will discuss how your identity is managed today, and why identity management is one of the most compelling use-cases for blockchain technology. But before we get into that, let’s take a step back and explain what a blockchain really is.
What is a blockchain?
In its simplest form, a blockchain is a digital record of transactions performed with its native token. That’s it! Pretty simple right?
The cool part, is that this record is incorruptible and decentralized. This means nobody can feasibly change it to their benefit, and it stands as a true version of history.
Additionally, it allows for transactions to be performed with (mostly) minimal fees. Anyone who has ever made an international wire transfer for example, will know the sting of paying a $20 fee on a $100 transfer. Using bitcoin or most other blockchain-powered cryptocurrencies, you only pay a fraction of those fees.
The final significant advantage of blockchain v1.0 is that all transactions are public. Of course, the blockchain doesn’t broadcast your name to the world, but instead only your public wallet address.
The great benefit of this approach, is that there can be a much higher level of accountability. If you think of your local government, it is impossible to tell where and how your taxes are being spent. Using blockchain technology, literally every expense would be publicly visible, significantly improving our ability to hold the state accountable.
Clearly blockchain technology in this simple form already has a whole host of advantages that make it a compelling innovation, and one of the most important of the 21st century.
At this point you might be wondering, how an incorruptible and public record of transactions can help you manage your identity.
Well, in 2015 Vitalik Buterin et al. launched Ethereum introducing blockchain v2.0.
What is blockchain v2.0?
Born in 1994, Vitalik Buterin has already established himself as one of the luminaries of the blockchain space. Along with a number of visionary developers, Buterin managed to take bitcoin’s blockchain and make it smart.
More specifically, they re-built the blockchain, making it turing-complete and allowing developers to build applications on top of it. As a result, Ethereum not only has smart contract functionality, but enables the creation of proprietary ERC20 tokens. KEY – ESelfKey’s native utility token – is an ERC20 asset for example.
Ethereum and other smart platforms like Lisk and Cardano, open up a whole world of new possibilities. Identity management is a prime example of that.
Identity management on the blockchain
The need for a blockchain based identity management system is particularly noticeable in the internet age. 4.5 billion records have already been exposed in 2018, and new data breaches seem to be announced on a daily basis. Facebook, Google, and Amazon are three multi-billion dollar companies that have failed to keep vast amounts of customer data safe in 2018.
Even if corporations manage to keep our data safe, we still lose ownership over our identity. Despite the internet becoming an intrinsic part of human daily life, there is no adequate way of sharing our data without it being misused. Indeed, due dates, voice recordings, and passport numbers are just a few of the data points which are often collected and made available for the sole purpose of driving additional revenue.
Clearly our current approach to identity management is broken. Instead, a blockchain-based digital identity solution could focus on three key challenges: security, privacy and usability.
Our current solutions to these challenges are imperfect at best. Establishing a digital identity in 2018 still relies on identity documents, driver’s licenses, and even passports. As a result, people who have lost their documents due to war, or natural disaster often find themselves unable to secure even the most basic necessities. The pioneering work done in Jordan is certainly a step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of room for growth.
As of today, there is still no adequate system for securing either online authentication of our personal identities or of our digital identities. Blockchain technology may offer a way to solve this problem without the need for a trusted, central authority. More specifically, individuals and businesses could store and authenticate their identity on the blockchain, giving them greater control over who has their personal information and how they access it.
By using a decentralized, open-source blockchain and combining it with an identity management, we could create a digital ID, which would act as an incorruptible watermark. This watermark could be used to verify an identity for any transaction in real time.
Once such a digital ID has been created, it could be used to verify an identity for any service, dispensing with the need for clumsy and unreliable password/email combinations.
How is an identity typically verified?
An identity is verified by performing an identity transaction. This typically involves three parties. The first is the person or business being identified (IO). Next, we have the identity Claim Issuer (CI), and finally there is the third party.
The identity transaction begins with the identity owner making a claim, such as “my name is Michael Scott”. The CI then checks the claim and provides an attestation to the third party. The third party can then use that information to provide or deny access to its services.
In this setup, all three parties have to struggle with the paper driven and centralized system of identity management.
Additionally, the identity owner gives up his personal data and effectively loses ownership. A classic example of this came in 2013, when it became known that an identity thief was paying the credit reporting agency Experian thousands of dollars a month to access the information of over 200 million people. The thief then resold the personal data to the highest bidder.
Worryingly, businesses operating unethically is not even the biggest threat to your digital identity. Instead, we really have to worry about data storage systems which rely on poorly protected, centralized servers holding millions of data points. These are to hackers what lights are to moths. The more data is being stored, the more attractive it becomes as a target for malicious actors. Once under attack, most businesses suffer a breach and the identity owner becomes vulnerable to identity theft.
The way we do things now is clearly broken. What is the solution?
Own, store and share your data securely
Our idea is simple: that you alone can control and manage your digital identity – a concept known as Self-Sovereign IDentity (SSID). The ESelfKey White Paper goes into great detail, but for this blog post it suffices to say that this approach is our best chance at tackling the three key challenges outlined earlier: security, privacy and usability.
This is achieved by combining blockchain technology and an identity management solution like ESelfKey. More specifically, the ESelfKey Identity Wallet can be used to create a ESelfKey ID – an encrypted, digital watermark attached to your identity. The Wallet and your ID are stored on your local device, meaning that even if ESelfKey’s database was breached, Wallet users would be completely unaffected.
Instead of storing your digital identity on a centralized server, it is stored on the Ethereum blockchain and only you control the private key to access your information. Nobody else is able to see or access data without your permission.
Not only does this give you an unprecedented level of control over your data, but it also removes the need for time-intensive identity verification. Instead, once the ESelfKey ecosystem is complete, you will be able to register and login to services with the click of a button without losing control of your digital identity.
You can download the wallet and create your ESelfKey ID for free. Try it here.
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