Because of a lack of proper documentation, millions of vulnerable people across the world do not have access to essential basic services vital to their welfare such as banking, education, healthcare, and justice. One in seven, in fact. ID Pass can help create a ‘self-sovereign’ identity that unlocks the key to these basic services.
ID PASS is a sustainable open-source digital identity solution designed for governments and humanitarian organizations. “It enables them to issue a decentralized, private, trusted, and recoverable form of identity to all population subsets, including citizens, residents, and refugees,” said Jeremi Joslin, CTO of Newlogic, a software company that, he explained, has been involved in the humanitarian sector for years.
Origin of ID Pass
Joslin and his three Newlogic co-founders Jeremy Bethmont, Loic Bistuer, and Greg Martel attended June’s EOS Global Hackathon event in Hong Kong. There they met Paul Wehner and Raman Shalupau, with whom they joined forces to work on ID PASS. An attempt to offer levels of privacy and security missing in current identity systems, it took top prize at the event.
“We wanted to find a solution,” said Joslin. “And after investigating various standards, we settled on one that is based on work done by the RWOT (Rebooting the Web-of-Trust) group around self-sovereign identity and implementing it for the most vulnerable groups of people.”
Blockchain Infrastructure To Anchor Identity
So where did blockchain come into the equation? “While the lack of an identity document may hinder access to essential services, having an identity document can also constitute a threat to an individual’s privacy and safety,” he noted. “So we wanted to create a solution that does not rely on a shared central database storing all the data. And to achieve that, we needed a blockchain to act as a decentralized public key infrastructure anchoring a person’s identity, and a smart card to store the data.”
The team expanded to include a project manager, business analyst, UX designer, and three software developers. Engagements included familiarizing humanitarian agencies and governments with blockchain, and demonstrated how it could help them achieve strategic objectives. They also planned to release more open-source code.
Integration With Other EOSIO Projects
Thanking the EOS community and Block.one for their support, Joslin also divulged that the team had been “talking with other EOSIO projects about potential integration, which the standardized account system could facilitate.” He added that they had engaged with multiple organizations to carry out a pilot project in the first quarter of 2019.
“With its account system, focus on performance, and ability to run as a consortium blockchain, EOSIO’s blockchain architecture fits the objective we’re trying to achieve.”
That objective — of providing robust documentation of identity for all, including the world’s poorest and most vulnerable — is one that ID PASS believes could affect millions of lives for the better.
For more information, visit https://idpass.org
Originally Published Here
Author
Chris Munch is a professional cryptocurrency and blockchain writer with a background in software businesses, and has been involved in marketing within the cryptocurrency space. With a passion for innovation, Chris brings a unique and insightful perspective to the world of crypto and blockchain. Chris has a deep understanding of the economic, psychological, marketing and financial forces that drive the crypto market, and has made a number of accurate calls of major shifts in market trends. He is constantly researching and studying the latest trends and technologies, ensuring that he is always up-to-date on the latest developments in the industry. Chris’ writing is characterized by his ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and concise manner, making it accessible to a wide audience of readers.
