According to Sharering, a blockchain-based platform that enables the creation and use of “self-sovereign” verifiable credentials, millions of potential World Wide Web users are still disconnected from the Internet due to a lack of necessary or verifiable identities. Without such verifiable identities and credentials, many disadvantaged groups, including refugees, are unable to access information from the Web that might improve their way of life.
Online identity proofing sharing
To help such disadvantaged groups overcome this challenge, technology entrepreneurs likeand blockchain startups like Shareringhelp them to create a technology that allows Internet users to “prove who they are online.” proposed or created. Known as self-sovereign digital identity, this technology also ensures that “individuals maintain control and security over their own data.”
Although this technology appears to be in its infancy, many organizations, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are adopting it in earnest. For example, Unconnected.org, a UK-based social enterprise that “connects the unconnected to the World Wide Web,” recently announced that it has partnered with Sharering.
As explained in a recentpress release,Unconnected.org, which aims to connect 1 billion people to the Internet, believes that barriers that “add friction to data availability” can be overcome or resolved through verifiable, self-sovereign digital identities.
Some critics have argued that such verifiable digital identities have flaws and drawbacks that could nullify their perceived benefits. However, according toTim Bos, CEO of Sharering, Steelcase says that with hard work and constant adjustments, self-sovereign digital identities are ideal when it comes to verifying online identities.
Bos, in a written response to questions sent by Bitcoin.com News via Telegram, also offered his thoughts on what he thinks regulators and governments need to do to understand what Sharering and others are trying to accomplish with self-sovereign digital IDs The report also states the following.
Here is the boss’s response.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Sharering recently announced that it has become an official partner of unconected.org, a social enterprise that seeks to “connect the unconnected to the World Wide Web.” The initiative’s goal is to connect one billion users to the Internet. Tell our readers more about this partnership and why you support the goal of connecting that many people.
Tim Boss (TB):I think we can all agree that the Internet is an ever-growing information domain, serving a wide variety of people and connecting them to each other in relatively frictionless ways. But in doing so as the Web continues, we are losing self-management of our information. Time and time again, we have seen information hacked or stolen and used for malicious purposes.
As we saw with BCN: Crypto Assets, how regulators understand and recognize blockchain-based self-sovereign digital identities may determine their fate to some extent. So what are you and other players in the digital ID field doing to provide powerful organizations and individuals with the right information about your work and what you want to accomplish?
TB:To begin with, Sharering can do nothing about anyone’s identity. One of our core values is to give the user complete control. Our mission statement is centered around removing friction from everyday interactions and giving users a higher level of security, trust, and ownership of their information, rather than us telling them what to do with their identities. identity, but rather to control what they do with their identity.
We believe that people should be able to use our products and services by sharing only minimal information. For example, when I sign up for a service, the website will always ask for more information than is necessary to provide that service; if a service requires proof that I am over 18, why would I need my full name, address, driver’s license, or passport number?
What we think should happen is that people should be able to answer a simple question, “Yes, I am over 18,” without having to overshare other personal information. Also, when sharing information through Sharering technology, users are always notified and asked questions before actually sharing information, so they can go into this process knowing exactly what data and personal information they are sharing.
BCN: Self-sovereign digital identities are said to give users security and flexibility, as well as the ability to share data only when they choose. However, critics point to the complex process of tracking personal data and permissions that may be beyond the control of the average user. They argue that these and other disadvantages outweigh the benefits of self-sovereign identity. How would you respond?
TB:We started this journey with user experience at the core of everything we do. It took a lot of effort and a lot of testing before we came to believe that our solution would be useful to the average everyday user.