Ethereum Foundation backs Spruce’s vision for decentralized identity verification

Spruce hopes its Ethereum-powered sign-in system can offer a decentralized alternative to the data-harvesting identity services offered by tech giants.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) are backing a proposed system for secure sign-in using Ethereum from decentralized identity software firm Spruce.

Spruce’s system was selected after EF and ENS submitted a Request for Proposals in July encouraging developers and software firms to propose a sign-in package using Oauth — an open standard for access delegation.

A Sept. 13 announcement states that the firm aims to give users control of their own online identities, offering an alternative to handing over one’s personal data to the likes of Google, Apple, and Facebook.

Spruce notes that the Ethereum ecosystem “already has tens of millions of monthly active wallet users signing with their cryptographic keys for financial transactions, community governance, and more,” adding:

“The security of these wallets has been proven across billions of dollars of digital assets at stake — not theoretical security, but real tests in production. These secure wallets can also be used to sign in to Web2 services.”

Spruce will work closely with ENS and the Ethereum Foundation to ensure that its solution is compatible with existing standards used throughout the Ethereum ecosystem, emphasizing that “the final result will be friendly to implementers while remaining vendor-neutral.”

“By standardizing this workflow, millions of Ethereum users will be able to use a digital identity that they fully control to seamlessly access the web,” the team asserted.

Spruce added that it has already started to deliver a best-practices survey, user research, specification drafts, and reference implementation.

Related: Decentralized identity is the way to fighting data and privacy theft

In July, Cointelegraph reported that crypto payments and identity management platform Numio had developed an app that allows users to verify their identity to web services without sending any sensitive information. Numio’s system uses zero-knowledge proofs to cryptographically verify the data.