Layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain Concordium launched a cellular app that permits customers to confirm their age with out disclosing their identification.
Based on a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the brand new answer — accessible as a cellular software for iOS and Android — makes use of zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) to permit customers to show their age with out revealing their identification.
The app creates an encrypted ID that can be utilized for age checks on third-party companies. Concordium framed the launch as a privacy-friendly different to conventional ID-based programs at a time when considerations about government-mandated verification are rising.
“The reality is that the net has by no means had a viable age verification system, leading to piecemeal options which might be ineffective at greatest and a privateness danger at worst,” Concordium CEO Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki stated.
A personal age verification answer
ZK-proofs enable a celebration to show they know sure info with out revealing it. This kind of cryptography is especially in style amongst privacy-focused cryptocurrency builders, with Zcash (ZEC) using it for nameless transfers and decentralized mixer Twister Money for anonymizing Ether transactions (ETH).
Associated: The Hashgraph Group unveils IDTrust to problem Worldcoin and Microsoft
A Concordium consultant informed Cointelegraph that the service is a shopper cellular software that’s accessible for obtain on iPhone and Android units. Customers can create a Concordium ID utilizing the app for about $0.01, which can be utilized for verification on built-in companies.
Concordium stated its app permits verification of attributes equivalent to title, date of start, nationality and doc kind. In follow, the corporate stated, none of this info is uncovered to service suppliers. As a substitute, ZK-proofs verify {that a} person meets necessities like being over 18.
Associated: Bhutan ought to embrace decentralized identification programs
Can the UK’s on-line age verification guidelines defend privateness?
The launch follows controversy surrounding the UK’s not too long ago launched obligatory on-line ID checks for age verification to view grownup content material, a definition broad sufficient to incorporate Wikipedia.
Privateness advocates strongly criticized the UK measure, with VPN apps seeing rising reputation within the nation as authorities officers recommend cracking down on them as properly. The implementation of the brand new measures turned obligatory on Tuesday.
UK legal guidelines requiring ID verification for accessing grownup content material are tech-neutral. The native communication regulator, Ofcom, acknowledged in its steerage doc that reusable digital ID wallets that share an “grownup/over-18” attribute are a legitimate implementation.
This might doubtlessly enable for using a ZK-proof-based service so long as it meets Ofcom’s “extremely efficient” customary and UK knowledge safety duties. A Concordium spokesperson informed Cointelegraph that the agency and its companions “are actively partaking with Ofcom” on their age verification options.
Curiosity in ZK-proofs extends past crypto initiatives. Google Pockets, the search big’s cost and digital card administration software, introduced in late April that it had built-in ZK-proofs for age verification.
“This implementation permits us to offer speedy age verification throughout a variety of cellular units, apps and web sites,” Google stated.
Journal: Bitcoin’s invisible tug-of-war between fits and cypherpunks
