What is identity:
Identity, I believe is the privilege to validate who a person says they are and their work. Identities are essential for keeping our citizens accountable to progress of the nation and economy. A person without an identity cannot be held accountable for the growth of a society.
What are current problems with identity:
Identity cards or numbers can be easily forged and are used at numerous places in its raw physical form where it can be easily manipulated.
The concept of Social Security numbers is outrageously outdated.
Identities such as Fingerprints and Biological factors cannot be changed but can be reproduced to impersonate people.
Impersonation must be curbed.
An identity must allow no option for impersonation or duplication, but be flexible at the same time to facilitate multiple use cases.
Should we put identity on the blockchain ?
Yes, we can definitely make use of the blockchain to sustain one’s identity. Blockchain allows transactions to be tracked. There are multiple ways by which bitcoins and other altcoins can be branded to be circulated as identity measurements. Cryptography plays a major role where we can have associated data hashed and linked to the blockchain through layers such that , people can verify if it is indeed you using, say a biological metric or any other means that is necessary whose permission can be revoked internally.
Example: Some might prefer using two different cards filled with two different data upon using which will grant access.
There can be multiple layers, multiple wallets, multiple transactions and multiple identities (in different scenarios) issued to the same person which eventually leads back to our Blockchain linking all of them together.
Advantages of putting Identity on the blockchain:
Establishment of a corruption free system.
Not restricted to governmental norms.
Can be used anywhere across the world.
Explicit Security towards one’s assets and identity.
Flexibility and prompt validation.
No Central Database.
Data being compromised is highly unlikely.(Dependant on security standards)
Time Stamping.
Usage of Misplaced or lost identities can be revoked, tracked and monitored.
Less human labor.
Standard for consistent and reliable identity theft prevention.
People can use flexible ways to prove their identities and not rely on just passports or identity cards which are of materialistic value.
Disadvantages:
The need for higher security.
By using multiple layers to allow flexibility, trust falls down to the establishment in charge.
Data stolen during verification can be misused, same as a cop running away with your ID.
Data being on public domain allows people to reverse engineer and misuse the system to provide or restrict access to unauthorized people.
Managing documents and efficiency.
Challenges of putting identity on the blockchain:
Multiple wallets must be tracked all together for illegal activity.
Making sure that Data can’t be directly retrieved and used from public domain for illegal purposes or impersonation.
Curbing misuse and identity theft.
Preventing data theft during verification.
Making the process transparent to build and back trust.
Having Governments on board to accept Blockchain based Identity solutions.
Flexibility allows loopholes which ought to be monitored and regulated.
Incorporating methods for retrieving Data when a person has lost their wallets, memory or requires validation from family or trustworthy entities.
Interesting Use cases:
Curbing mass usage of multiple passports and materialistic entity.
Using bio sensors to authenticate and verify.
Directly using a 2048 word randomized sequence to authenticate a person’s identity in person.
Some Interesting articles I found:
https://github.com/Colored-Coins/ColoredCoins-docs/blob/master/getting_started.md
https://shocard.com/how-it-works/
https://blockstack.org/intro
https://letstalkpayments.com/22-companies-leveraging-blockchain-for-identity-management-and-authentication/
For maintaining Identity on a blockchain,
It would be best to use Bitcoin protocol since it is the longer chain and employs a much more secure protocol.
Mining would be a problem since we'd need proof of stake mining.
We could verify nested identities and multiple pathways using ethereum smart contract capability.
Mining could be facilitated.
The reassessment of price of ether for gas could be a problem.
Forking, using an altcoin or making a new blockchain isn’t feasible due to lack of length and no way to incentivize miners.
We need changes for transaction fees, verification, POS and significant length to be of subsequent value to be used for Identity proof.
We will need to implement multiple changes of grave importance , to be able to execute the same on our very own blockchain.
In the meantime, it would be worthwhile to use ethereum for identity verification due to the need for nested identities and a strong framework to work with.
I hope this was helpful.