social media verification service

1. Is It Time for Our Personal Identification Documents to Go Digital? "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." Hans Hofmann In this day and age, we are suffocating under unnecessary. Almost everything we deal with on a daily basis seems to exist in abundance — especially data. We're producing more of it than ever before. Nevertheless, it's the inescapable route of our society - everything's going binary. On the other hand, there's an ever-so-popular trend of minimalism in this physical world of ours. Maybe it's laziness-related. Alternatively, interacting with physical objects don't bring us the kind of joy the digital world does — instant gratification. Look no further than your pocket, purse, or wallet, and you'll see that it's getting increasingly thinner. The entire wallet has gone digital. At first, debit cards replaced cash. They are more secure, can hold a seemingly endless amount of money, but not at the expense of the uncomfortable width of your wallet. Then, services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay showed up, encouraging us to ditch both cash and credit cards. Meanwhile, the popularity of home automation apps is on the rise. These apps are making it increasingly seamless to unlock your home with a single click of a button. Therefore, it stands to reason that the last items on the "leave my wallet" checklist are driving licenses and ID cards. Identification documents are going digital as well; they are just a tad more complex to handle. Perhaps another reason why we haven't gone fully digital with personal documents is that we don't use them as our other on- person possessions. Money and keys you cannot go about without. However, ID cards or driver's licenses... Well, how often do you use those? As many services have already been incorporated into our smartphones, people have stopped carrying wallets. They've found a clever way of putting a card underneath their smartphone case. But what if you could put it on the phone itself? How do you build a secure network of digital IDs? In terms of building a network of IDs, the approach would have to be extremely careful. One misstep and someone's personal information could fall into the wrong hands. You want to make sure that people can access their ID cards from any smartphone on the planet, and still remain fully secure. Using biometric features to secure your documents (and prove your identity) will ensure that there's only one holder of your private information - you. Having a database of such records can be reinforced with encryption, sharding, and decentralization. Therefore, once your digital identity is made, your files are encrypted (and the key to decrypt them is, well, you, or rather, your biometric features). Right after, the data is "chopped" into smaller bits, and scattered over a decentralized network. That's what we aim to build at eiden. Anyhow, with a decentralized system additionally secured through biometrics, you could have a safe platform for

2. the storage of such documents. Given that you partner up with certain alcohol stores, and police departments, you could have an ID card on your phone be entirely accepted anywhere you go. Provided that we start using digital identification documents to prove our identity in person, we could avoid counterfeits. It's relatively easy to make a visually believable counterfeit for those who are not of age yet (or those who go about doing shady stuff). However, if people had to hold a digital ID that requires users to verify their identity before they can use it, it would be a step further in the right direction security-wise. The benefits of digitalization are many. One of the ways to use eiden's digital ID will be to prove your identity online on e-commerce websites, memberships sites, and social media, to name a few. However, its application is twofold, the second being in- person. No more alcohol or tobacco purchases for minors. In fact, no more waiting in line to buy such things. With a digital ID, you could simply scan a QR code at a vending machine, and get a product (once you buy it, of course). Entering facilities that require its customers to be of legal age is yet another benefit — no need for a human counterfeit detector. Just scan a QR code or use an RFID, and you're in. Just like that. In an instant. Entering a gym, a library, or other facilities with memberships could be as easy as taking your phone out of the pocket for a few seconds. Thus, for instance, you'll be able to check in a hotel, pay for your stay, and unlock the door to your room - all with a single application. Your entire wallet with all its contents at the tip of your fingerprint. Your keys, money, and personal documents on a single device. Yet, secure. The beauty of it lies further down the road. As smartphones slowly make their transition to smartwatches and other wearables (with an increasing number of them having their own cellular cards), our pockets may be completely devoid of id card verification any holdings/possessions. Whether that's a good thing or not, I leave it to you to be the judge of it. What to take from all this? Digital identification documents are coming, one way or another. Yet, it's one of the most responsible tasks of today's society. We have to handle it properly, which implies building a safe and secure network of such documents. As we progress to a more digital world, we have to be cautious, but the changeover will make our lives at least a bit simpler.