Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.
Identity underpins almost every aspect of our lives. For the generation that grew up on the internet, it’s crazy that in the 21st century we still have to jump through so many hoops just to prove who we are – even for everyday things like shopping and gaming online.
All of us have become accustomed to the current system of storing our personal data in far-flung corners of the internet, handing over our private details at every turn, for it to then be sold off to third parties or stolen in a Sybil attack. Because we’ve been told there’s no other way.
In 2023, we are all online. It’s pretty much impossible to exist in the modern world without a social media presence. But the communities we’re building online are under constant attack: a recent report published by the Identity Theft Resource Center found that by the end of 2022, there had been 422,143,312 victims of data breaches around the world.
With enormous amounts of personal data being leaked from platforms we all use like Instagram, and the technology we have at our disposal today, it’s insane that our online communities aren’t a safer place to exist.
As digital natives, we know there is an easier way. Web3 is the natural next step in the internet’s evolution and can enable us to roll out instinctive solutions to these totally avoidable problems.
Personal data storage has been the focus of some recent experimentation in the crypto and blockchain community, who are acutely aware of the need for simplified identity verification procedures. A particularly promising idea by Vitalik Buterin, alongside the non-profit Democracy for Earth Foundation, has led to the creation of the social identity verification for humans on Ethereum called Proof of Humanity (PoH).
Taking on the form of an ‘online phonebook’ , PoH creates an impermeable list of identity-verified people. The system, whilst simple on the surface, runs on seriously powerful technology that could provide a springboard to all kinds of use cases such as more streamlined voting processes and the eradication of bots and misinformation.
The concept of decentralized identification, also commonly referred to as ‘self-sovereign identity’ (SSI), is rapidly gaining momentum as an alternative to our current centralized global identity system. Proponents of the SSI movement instinctively feel that it makes sense for an individual to own and control the details of their own identity, without constant intervention from just a few powerful actors. People should be able to interact in the digital world with the same freedoms and trust as they do offline.
Our identities are built on our personal information – our birthdays, nationalities, degrees, addresses. In the physical world, we keep these records of this data in safe places like our wallets, or a safe, and show them when we need to. SSI translates this concept to the digital world and brings with it a much-needed sense of personal autonomy.
When an individual can manage the elements that make up their identity and control who accesses these credentials, they are liberated from the hundreds of databases they must mindlessly plug their data into every time they want to access basic goods or services, and are kept safe from bad actors.
As this movement gains traction and the concept develops, it can be used to build the internet outside of what we currently know – imagine, a future of true online freedom, beyond the control of Big Tech giants. Your access to crypto, websites, and games is simplified with a single code that links to your digital identity ‘wallet’ – and only you decide to whom you want to hand over your wallet.
The gambling industry’s ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) controls is built upon this outdated system. Effective KYC involves knowing a customer’s identity, their financial activities and the risk they pose. At the moment it’s far too easy for fraudsters to fake their identity, or to hack into centralized systems and steal someone else’s, and the gaming and gambling industries are suffering as a result.
We’ve all grown up online and we know that the internet isn’t run as efficiently or safely as it could be – this is nothing new. But it’s time to take the next step forward. By making the shift to decentralized digital identification, we can better safeguard our community from bad actors and block restricted users without compromising the autonomy of our players. Community is the beating heart of web3 platforms, where the comfort, security and privacy of users and customers is paramount to companies.
The future is here. Decentralized digital identification is the key. It’s high time for regulatory bodies to take a serious look at the current systems – they’ll see that they just don’t work in online commerce, and they never have. It’s time to stop training consumers to upload photocopies of their most sensitive documents.
The online experience should be fun, easy, and secure. It just doesn’t make sense that the place where we spend most of our time – the internet – is unsafe, and our attempts to ensure safety and privacy through digital verification are just inconvenient and insecure. By removing unnecessary obstacles, having a digital presence, shopping, and doing business online becomes seamless and inherently more enjoyable.
SSI is no longer the future – it’s here – and it’s time to bring it to the mainstream.
