Blockchain-based identity recognition technology will promote the world's paperless process

A universally compatible blockchain smart identity recognition project led by Deloitte has already had an impact on all aspects of our lives. Today, we have entered the electronic information age, and we use a variety of mobile electronic devices all the time, but on the contrary, our identity recognition technology still remains in the paper age.

In today's society, paper or plastic identification is indispensable for a series of activities such as entering and leaving the country, obtaining driving licenses and receiving state subsidies. Different public and private organizations need to obtain various identity authentication information from individuals or companies, and sometimes these information requests are repeated several times a day.

Deloitte is committed to developing "smart authentication" technology based on blockchain technology, which is mainly used to solve various cumbersome identity authentication needs in society and completely move us away from the paper era.

Blockchain technology can provide a unified identity authentication information

Blockchain technology allows us to manage our own identity information and obtain verification from a trusted third party at any time, which means that we no longer need to provide identity authentication information all the time.

Digital identity authentication based on blockchain technology can not only provide identity authentication services for individuals and enterprises, but also provide services for certain "items".

To get more details about blockchain authentication, we spoke to Alexander Shelkovnikov, president of Deloitte and a pioneer in the UK blockchain space. He said:

“The Smart Authentication System is a prototype that is evolving with real-time, ongoing user feedback. It provides new ways for individuals, organizations, and things to obtain and use identity information, simplifying many transactions.”

Self-authorization has not yet been achieved

In an ideal society, people will be able to manage their own identity information and decide how to use it. Deloitte has discovered this social need, but the company believes that self-authentication has a long way to go. Alexander Shelkovnikov emphasized:

“The ultimate goal of our plan is to achieve a world where people can use their identity information more securely and in a more compliant manner. However, we also realize that we still have a long way to go to achieve this goal, that is, we need to convince governments, regulators, financial institutions and other structures.”

For identification of individuals and objects

The key to digital identity authentication lies in who can provide secure and reliable authentication services as a third party.

When people need to share their information, they always hope that they can protect themselves and share it with those who need to share it through a safe channel, rather than easily exposing their privacy. As Alexander Shelkovnikov said:

“The beauty of this smart identity technology is that it is designed to enable identity sharing through mutual authentication between two parties, whether it is an individual, an organization or an object. We are not looking at these market needs in a one-sided way, but rather we are looking at the overall need for information authentication between consumers and enterprises, especially when enterprises launch new services. Today, more and more Internet-connected devices such as self-driving cars and drones are increasingly infiltrating our daily lives. These devices not only need reliable and secure authentication services, but also require authentication systems that can be easily managed and even shut down in time when necessary.”

Blockchain technology is inherently flexible

Interestingly, Deloitte's smart authentication technology is compatible with different blockchain environments, including the widely used Ethereum blockchain. We also consulted Deloitte about who will hold this information in the future. It told us that the current model is to use a large number of reliable data repositories to support identity information, but in the future, the authentication system will be supported by a combination of network trust storage services and decentralized data servers.

Future scope of application of intelligent authentication system

In order to move towards the era of digital identity authentication, participation and coordinated cooperation from the government, large enterprises and individuals are needed.

Cointelegraph asked Shelkovnikov about the sources of authentication information and how the new system would work. Deloitte is one of the companies that could potentially provide authentication information. Shelkovnikov said:

“The scope of application of the smart authentication system will be endless. In the foreseeable future, we may see national authentication departments also working under the smart authentication system ecosystem. However, it is important that when a certification information is initially entered into the system, it must be authenticated by one or more third parties. These third parties must be companies that store the most basic files of the blockchain. For example, anyone can claim to have a driver’s license, but only one person can claim to have a driver’s license and be authenticated by the authentication system at the same time.”

Provide identity authentication services to those who do not have identity information

One of the most common social problems in the third world is that many people do not have identity information, which prevents them from enjoying state welfare and other social services. Regarding whether the smart authentication system can be adopted by developing countries, Deloitte is optimistic because they have successfully developed a system without any technical barriers and can be applied to any operating environment. Deloitte announced:

"Our goal is to solve the problems of digital authentication. We hope to provide identity authentication services that are not restricted by geographical location and are free of charge or only charge a small fee in the future. The current system is equivalent to an underlying technical support system, which only describes the operation mode, structure and authentication process of future smart identity authentication to the public. In the future, anyone can build an authentication application based on this prototype that can be operated and run by themselves."