Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed herein belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news editorial.
On December 3, 1992, the world changed. Neil Papworth, a modest 22-year-old test engineer, sent the world’s first text message. It was just two words – Merry Christmas – and he had to type them into a computer, but it would soon change the way the world communicates.
Cell phones were, at that time, still a novelty. They were efficient and interesting, of course. But they weren’t necessary. After all, both parties always had to be available at the same time for anything to happen.
They would have stayed that way without text messaging. This new use case for mobile devices made them ubiquitous, and a few years later, text messaging became the most used data application in the world.
This type of “eureka” moment is about to happen for another technology. Blockchains are still considered by many to be a novelty, a passing fad, or a dream without a realistic use case. Web3 technology is popular but certainly not ubiquitous.
To change this we need an SMS. Digital identity is just that.
The digital dilemma
If we’ve learned anything from the recent US election cycle, it’s that online perception may be the greatest political force in the world. Podcasts are essentially platforms for long-form debates, social media turns every word into wildfire, and vice presidential candidates are live-streamed video games.
Our world lives online, which represents a crucial challenge. How do you prove that you are you? We’ve seen deepfakes and other AI-generated content push the limits of our detection ability. Our financial institutions are under immense pressure due to highly sophisticated anti-fraud technology, and governments are realizing that traditional identification is no longer effective or reliable enough.
Digital identity services are being developed (or implemented) around the world. But most of them are just mobile apps authenticated by the actual ID cards we’ve used for decades.
Just like the original cell phones were just portable versions of the one you had at home.
It has to be more than that. It’s more than just a portable version of your ID card. It must be irrefutable, unique and intrinsically linked to your humanity. These “personality titles”, as they were dubbed by a group of researchers earlier this summer, are only possible with web3 technology and, I believe, are the use case that will help integrate it into everything what we do.
The honey pot
Why is a digital ID service tied to physical IDs, not the solution? Security. A centralized information repository is ready for selection.
There’s an old saying I like to use to explain it. Show me a 10 foot wall and I’ll show you an 11 foot ladder. There is no way to completely protect it from outside forces, no matter how many guardrails you install against individual hacker groups, other countries, political forces, or even corporations.
Imagine a vault containing complete files on each of us. Enough details to impersonate, steal or destroy anyone’s identity. It would be the most valuable bank heist in world history.
Decentralization is the only answer! A blockchain with a built-in identity layer, like the one Concordium has built, is a starting point, but more innovation and creative new solutions are needed if we are to protect our humanity.
The modern wallet
For as long as we can remember, identification was just a piece of paper with your name written on it. There have been improvements and changes, such as adding a scannable photo or barcode. But ID documents remain, at their core, a piece of paper with your name on it.
Today there is a new way of doing things. As JP Morgan explains, digital identity has four distinct building blocks. The first three are simple:
● Identifiers: things such as your name, email address or account number.
● Identity attributes: Data points such as where you attended school or where you work.
● Reputation: things you’ve participated in, your social followings, or content you’ve created.
In the past, a Twitter account with the right username, a blue check mark, and three million followers was enough to confirm it’s who you think it is. This is no longer true. Each of these three categories can easily be decentralized. The Proof of Presence Protocol is a technology already used to establish reputation certifications.
The fourth building block of our modern identity will be digital assets. You can prove who you are by what you have. Blockchain ledgers will maintain immutable proof and record that you are who you say you are.
I don’t mean that you’ll use a Bored Ape to confirm your humanity (although you could, I suppose). Instead, we will create identity tokens that cannot be transferred, duplicated, or decrypted. They will be the keystone of the modern wallet.
The need for caution
But, as with early text messaging systems, which were often fraudulent, there will be challenges ahead. Even though the Wild West days of crypto may be behind us, many snake oil salesmen are still on the road.
Digital identity is too important to be left to the people who will implement it as quickly and easily as possible. It must be a joint effort between government and private blockchain leaders who want to prioritize regulation, privacy, and security. We must also leave ownership of data in the hands of the individual, and not in a central repository.
When we do that, web3 will have its eureka moment. He will find his Neil Papworth.
