In a world increasingly driven by online transactions, trust can be difficult to come by. Every time a consumer logs in to their bank account or pays their health insurance, personal information is at risk. Cybercriminals are actively looking for financial, medical, and other personal details they can sell or exploit. While the convenience of technology is creating new concerns about personal privacy and protecting personal information, technology can offer a foolproof solution that can validate identity without exposing personal data.
TrustGrid™, a cybersecurity company for governments and private sector organizations, based in Sydney, Australia, has devised a confidential computing platform that uses distributed ledger technology to create digital IDs that are secure and ensure absolute privacy. Any government agency or organization can create a consortium ecosystem to authenticate members without exposing personal information securely.
You Are Your Identity
According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is big business, with losses of $3.3 billion in 2020. Identities are easy to steal because users have to re-create their credentials using the same personal data every time they open a new online account. That means cybercriminals have dozens of opportunities to steal personal information.
TrustGrid has developed a better approach that puts users in control of their identity. Rather than reusing personal data for multiple credentials, one trusted entity, such as a government agency or healthcare provider, stores your personal information and issues a digital authenticator such as a QR code. Your smartphone can prove you are who you say you are. That way, you can present the identifier for verification without having to expose sensitive personal data.
“Historically, we let people recreate their personals over and over again using private information such as address and date of birth,” said Santosh Devaraj, CEO, and Founder of TrustGrid. “With TrustGrid, we are going back to fundamentals – you are your identity, and you have control over your credentials. With a secure digital ecosystem, your credentials are securely stored, and in return, you get a unique identity code that you control.”
The data is stored in the cloud using a distributed ledger system to make the identity records secure. The information is stored across multiple sites and securely encrypted. Various organizations can sign on to use the same secure consortium ecosystem to validate data in addition to identity. For example, if the state government uses a digital identifier for your driver’s license, the same QR code is used to validate vaccine records, health insurance, corporate ID, or other purposes. It’s simply a matter of sharing the same consortium ecosystem.
Government Agencies Lead with Digital Licenses
The government is already using TrustGrid technology in New South Wales to issue driver’s licenses and commercial trade licenses.
More than 25,000 motorists in New South Wales can now opt for a digital driver’s license. Using a digital driver’s license means citizens have a secure ID that can’t be faked and carry fewer cards in their pocket.
Using a digital identifier also makes identity theft much harder. For example, presenting a digital driver’s license as identification for a bank transaction enables the teller to authenticate with a digital scan that initiates an authentication process only the identity holder could complete using a PIN, multifactor authentication, a security question, or some other technique. Using a digitized identity card also eliminates data entry errors and other manual processes that are time-consuming and prone to mistakes.
In a more recent program, New South Wales has initiated a Digital Trade License for contractors and merchants, giving them a digital license to carry with them on the job. In some cases, having one digital license replaces 15 different plastic certification cards. The new Digital Trade License can be issued to certify any specialty trade, such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction, and gas fitting licenses.
Digital credentials offer a new approach to identity and verification that puts the individual in control of how and where their personal information is used. As distributed ledger technology proves itself as a proven approach to securing personal information, you can expect more government agencies and organizations to form their digital ecosystems or to join a shared consortium ecosystem that extends digital credentials to those who want to protect their identity and take advantage of having a single, portable digital identity code.
