Why identity matters
Who are you? Can you prove it? Are you sure your drivers license isn't fake? You know you can just buy them online, right?
Identity is the cornerstone to our society, who we are, and more importantly, who others think we are. This affects how, and if others want to interact with us.
Traditionally we're all issued identity documents that detail various parts of our lives, but do we need this? Yes and no.
In order for us to be authentic, act authentically and be received authentically, we need to provide evidence. Normally we'd hand over our drivers license, passport and other forms of identification dependent on the level of trust a third party needs to have in us.
If I’m with friends and I meet someone for the first time, usually a handshake and a personal introduction is enough to prove who I am. My identity has been authenticated by my friends, and by extension, my new friend will accept that. This is socialized proof, and we see this every day in our likes of Facebook, twitter retweets and general social media interaction.
On the other hand if I want to get a new phone plan, my favorite telco may ask for my drivers license, then look at my photo to ensure my authenticity. The presumption here is my drivers license is not a counterfeit, and the shop assistant actually knows (and cares) what a fake looks like.
If we want to scale that up a little and I want to extend my presence in the financial system (i.e. open a bank account), I’ll need to pass a KYC check. Even though we've made big strides in the customer facing side of KYC, fundamentally, documentation has to be proven to be authentic. If I change my name, and need to go through the KYC process, I need some kind of official paper to indicate that.
The paradoxical thing is, even if I’ve passed a KYC check, next time I need to go through the KYC process I’ll need to supply more information even though my identity has not changed. My name has changed, but I’m still me, and I still have all the same attributes that made me trustworthy prior to me changing my name.
It’s kind of strange right? It’s not only that, its inefficient adding complexities and cost to a system that is already complicated and expensive.
Why do we do this? Because there has been no sufficient technology available to make the process easier.
By now most everyone has heard of blockchain technology, pioneered by the 1st implementation, Bitcoin.
It is by using blockchain technology, and the underlying cryptographic primitives we can remove the need for having physical documents. As a user of a blockchain identity solution, I become the curator of my identity and control who can access it.
Imagine this: I prove my identity at a bank when I open up a bank account, I then take that identity to my favorite telco who can not only see I am who I am, are satisfied by the evidence I provide them. In real life, I tap my phone, they see a green tick and I can buy a new SIM card.
In the coming weeks, BitPOS in conjunction with Airbitz, will be releasing this solution.
Our identity solution is ubiquitous, cryptographically provable, cheap, and above all, it’s easy.