U.S. Department of Homeland Security awards $800,000 to SecureKey to develop blockchain digital identity network

Identity and authentication service provider SecureKey and the Digital Identity Association of Canada (DIACC) have received funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create a digital identity network using blockchain technology.

According to Reuters, the $800,000 grant comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Command Control and Interoperability Centre for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA) and will be used to help SecureKey and the non-profit alliance Canadian Digital Identity Council (DIACC) build a digital identity network.

This digital network will allow the public to access online services without having to remember passwords or even prove their identity, while still protecting their privacy and security.

In an interview, Andre Boysen, Chief Identity Officer at SecureKey, said:

“In today’s world, every organization acts on its own. Digital identity is bigger than any one organization… It takes a concerted effort to make digital identity work.”

In this technologically advanced world, people need something they can trust and rely on to prove their identity, making identity fraud very difficult. SecureKey and DIACC are working to make this happen.

Using the first of its kind ‘triple triple blind ’ privacy process, which SecureKey has developed, people can connect to web services through a trusted log. This process ensures that the actual amount of data being transmitted is limited, improving security. For example, when someone logs into a bank where their details are stored, the bank is ‘blind’, meaning it cannot see where the data is going, and the recipient is ‘blind’, meaning they cannot see which bank or any bank account information was used. Similarly, SecureKey is ‘blind’ to what is happening, which is known as ‘triple blind’.

The partnership will further boost Canada's financial technology industry, which reported in January that funding for the sector hit a 20-year high last year.

Moreover, the Bank of Canada also seems to be supporting the industry. In June last year, the central bank said that by working with financial technology companies, they can ensure the smooth evolution of the future financial system.

At the same time, the booming development of Canadian financial technology is also a good sign for the Canadian Bitcoin industry.

As Canada’s financial technology and bitcoin industries are on the rise, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is taking advantage of this trend by engaging SecureKey and DIACC to build a digital network that will bring numerous benefits.