Buenos Aires Implements Self-Sovereign Decentralized Blockchain ID Initiative

October 25, 2024 Bitcoin.com

New Web3 ID app lets users find each other based on proven interests

June 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

apple music

Quivr allows users to connect multiple apps, including Spotify, Steam and Instagram, to generate behavior-based badges proving their interests.

A Web3 app launched on June 27 lets users prove their social credibility using blockchain technology, according to an announcement from the app’s development team. Called “Quivr,” it lets users connect apps they regularly use, such as Spotify, Steam, Apple Music and others. Based on their behavior in these apps, Quivr generates blockchain badges that prove their interests or membership within communities, which can then be used as a way of identifying users who have common interests.

Quivr has launched on the Apple App Store, with an Android and web version scheduled to be released in about two weeks, developers told Cointelegraph. Over 10,000 users created accounts during the app’s beta period.

According to the announcement, Quivr has formed an initial set of partnerships with celebrities and organizations to help build communities through the app, including Ross Butler, Jack Dylan Grazer, Ohio State, Arizona State, Kansas State and Fenix Games.

In a conversation with Cointelegraph, Quivr co-founder and CEO Ray Lee stated that the current version of Quivr can connect to 11 different apps: Spotify, LinkedIn, Steam, Twitter, Apple Music, Apple Health, Instagram, TikTok, Audius and Canvas.

The users’ behavior on these apps determines the badges they are able to acquire, allowing them to prove their credentials through their actions. For example, if a user listens to jazz music on Spotify, the person may receive a “jazz fan” badge, or if the user plays fighting games on Steam, the individual may receive a “fighting gamer” badge.

If users want to record a credential that can’t be proven through one of these apps, they can instead upload a video or image and have it reviewed by community validators as an alternative form of proof.

Users can browse each others’ profiles and send private messages to each other using Quivr, allowing them to find and chat with others who have proven to share their interests. In the current version, only private messages are available. But the team is experimenting with ideas of creating “community and subgroups around conversations” like a “validated Discord” in the future, Lee stated.

Quivr runs on the Polygon network. However, it does not require users to download a separate wallet or copy down and store seed words. Instead, it uses Magic SDK for logins, a type of new wallet tech that does not require seed words.

Web3 app developers continue to compete for a slice of the lucrative social media and influencer market. Polkadot-based chat app Subsocial implemented Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility on June 8, and Polygon-based Lens network created a new “layer 3” scaling solution for faster posts on April 26.

Although none of these apps have yet to challenge the Facebooks and Twitters of the world, some Web3 experts believe that social apps will be the killer use case that brings blockchain tech to the masses.

United Nations Proposes Digital ID System Tied to Bank Accounts and Mobile Payment Platforms

June 25, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Polygon launches decentralized ID product powered by ZK proofs

March 2, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The public launch of Polygon ID comes 12 months after it was first launched in a closed-environment to a select group of builders.

Polygon, a layer-2 scaling protocol for Ethereum, has launched a zero-knowledge decentralized identity solutionto the public nearly a year after announcing its development.

The Polygon ID service uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) that use cryptographic techniques to allow users to verify their identity online without having their sensitive information passed or potentially stored with a third party.

Polygon Labs publicly released Polygon ID on March 1, almost 12 months after the project was officially launched in a closed-source environment.

The Polygon team says Polygon ID was built to “solve the issue of digital trust.”

ZERO KNOWLEDGE IDENTITY FOR WEB3

The Polygon ID team is excited to announce 4 tools have been released in the #PolygonID Identity Infrastructure to build a more equitable internet that places identity at the center of it.

The future is self-sovereign⛓https://t.co/h66KyDurJE pic.twitter.com/jTBbzBNVJk
— Polygon (@0xPolygon) March 1, 2023

“What sets Polygon ID apart from most other decentralized ID frameworks is its implementation of zero-knowledge technology, allowing users to verify their identities or other credentials without necessarily revealing sensitive information,” Polygon said.

The public release introduces four new tools to the Polygon ID toolset — Verifier SDK, Issuer Node, Wallet SDK and Wallet App — that will allow Polygon developers to integrate decentralized identity into their applications.

*A simple chart explaining how Polygon ID interacts with user credentials. Source: Polygon*

Users will be able to produce zero-knowledge proofs using off-chain credentials — such as their passport, national ID or a bachelor's degree — to interact with smart contracts and verify information on-chain.

“This means that off-chain data can now be used for trustless on-chain verifications in the widely-supported Verified Credential format.”

Polygon claims it’s also the first ZK-based digital ID tool that allows users to hold credentials locally on handheld devices such as smartphones, and that users will no longer need passwords:

“Passwordless logins exchange encrypted verifiable credentials by simply scanning a QR code or connecting to a desktop wallet. Organizations can benefit from improved security, a better user experience, and productivity of their system administrators whose time is not taken up by password resets.”

The co-founder of Polygon ID, David Schwartz, said in a March 1 tweet that the product was built “on the latest decentralized identity standards” which will help protect developers and users against unauthorized access from third parties.

Polygon ID’s ZK-based technology enables developers to build solutions to allow users to store their personal information privately and securely while giving them full control over who has access to their data.
— David Schwartz (@davidsrz) March 1, 2023

"Providing identity in a way that the average consumer can use is the holy grail of digital ID adoption,” he explained in a separate press statement.

Multiple projects have already committed to integrating Polygon ID upon launch, such as Web3 infrastructure provider Kaleido, ID verification solution Fractal and Web3 community management system Collab.Land. Together they have a user base of over 4 million, according to Polygon.

Other Web3 projects, such as metaverse platform The Sandbox and blockchain builder community Guild.xyz, are in the process of integrating Polygon ID too.

Following the news, the price of Polygon’s native token, MATIC (MATIC), increased 2.5% from $1.22 to $1.25 in a matter of hours before falling back to $1.23.

Other blockchain-based ID products out in the space today include Quadrata and IDNTTY.

Equifax—known for huge data breach—is building a Web3 KYC solution

October 27, 2022 Coin Telegraph

anonymized

Equifax, which suffered a huge data breach in 2017, has partnered with privacy-centric blockchain company Oasis Labs for a decentralized ID offering for Web3 companies.

Credit reporting company Equifax, known for suffering from one of the largest customer data breaches to date, has partnered with blockchain company Oasis Labs to build a Know Your Customer (KYC) solution.

Equifax and Oasis said on Oct. 26 that the latter would be building a decentralized identity management and KYC solution for the industry on Oasis’ platform which will leverage Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) from Equifax to help with checks and user identification.

The announcement made no mention of the exact technology which will underpin this offering and Cointelegraph’s request for comment was not immediately responded to by either company.

Both firms believe there hasn’t been a KYC solution tailored to Web3 with “strong privacy protection” and their proposed offering is set to address this gap by issuing anonymized KYC credentials to individuals’ wallets.

This credential will be continuously updated according to the announcement and Oasis pledges its “privacy-preserving capabilities” will ensure data is processed in confidence whilst maintaining a trail on the company's blockchain.

Web3 firms offering similar solutions based around decentralized identity are Dock and Quadrata with each offering a product built around decentralized identity.

The partnership could have some Web3 natives concerned considering the significant data breach Equifax suffered in 2017. Around 163 million worldwide private records were compromised with 148 million being U.S. citizens making it the 13th largest data breach in U.S. history according to cybersecurity company UpGuard.

Attackers targeted a third-party web portal with a known vulnerability that was patched but Equifax had failed to update to the latest version, the hackers gained access to the firms' servers for around two and a half months all the while siphoning millions of records containing sensitive information.

It was reported that Equifax spent $1.4 billion on legal fees and strengthening its security posture following the incident. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a $700 million fine in July 2019 which the firm settled.

ID

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