To navigate effectively in a digital world, we should be capable of simply and securely set up our digital identification. Historically, a username, password and a few trivial arcana like our first pet’s identify have been key items of data held by establishments to ascertain our digital identification. Sadly, this method has come at a excessive price.

Trusting third events to securely maintain our private information is a dangerous — and infrequently dropping — proposition. The variety of hacks which have resulted in stolen private information is staggering. Within the high 15 information breaches, the private information of three.5 billion individuals have been stolen. And as soon as our private info is out, we can’t take it again. It turns into vulnerable to make use of by nefarious actors for damaging functions — an all too acquainted situation.

Fortuitously, we are able to strengthen private information safety and resolve privateness considerations with decentralized identification options, akin to self-sovereign identification, or SSI. The basic precept of SSI is that people are in a position to management how their very own identities are used, shared and accessed, moderately than third events and central authorities. An SSI system creates ironclad digital wallets on a smartphone by decentralized blockchain know-how that allows individuals to share identification info with out compromising safety.

Associated: Blockchain know-how, monetary and self-sovereign digital identities

As a substitute of counting on a 3rd get together to retailer private information, SSI creates a layer of belief and security by securely placing a person’s private information of their possession. Individuals can select to share private information — in a restricted and non-copyable method — by their smartphones. This course of additionally provides the one that requested the information certainty that the shared information is correct by seeing that it’s verified by a trusted third get together.

Curiosity in securely sharing private information by SSI has significantly elevated within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In efforts to reopen our societies and economies, options to hold and current our digital well being info have been rising. For instance, main corporations within the business are growing confidential and safe strategies of certifying COVID-19 take a look at outcomes, which might permit companies, industries and well being organizations to confidently resume operations. Different innovators are engaged on digital certificates letting people show they’ve recovered from the virus, or if they’ve examined optimistic or adverse, serving to people get again to regular life.

These options — often known as well being passports — can present verifiable proof that a person has the antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 or, as soon as the vaccine is developed and launched, been immunized. These passports permit those that are protected from contracting or spreading the virus to return to their workplaces and public areas, as individuals can rapidly current their verifiable and trusted well being information. For instance, companies might scan a QR code on a cellphone on the entrance of a constructing. Individuals can have peace of thoughts to freely transfer about society and start a path again to normalcy.

The quick must share private well being information in the course of the pandemic is proving to be a catalyst for curiosity in decentralized identification options. Nonetheless, these options proceed past well being information. We will undertake them for a variety of use circumstances, akin to accessing monetary and authorities providers to enrolling in a college and even to exchange government-issued library playing cards and/or drivers licenses.

The worth of an simply distributable, verifiable and safe identification can hardly be overstated. Widespread adoption of options like SSI would take away the danger of usernames and passwords with logging into web sites. And even when private information will get hacked, a reputation, social safety quantity, or date of beginning would not have worth as a result of there’s nothing criminals might do with that info with out the mandatory SSI. We’re coming into a world when thieves will be unable to open a checking account or take out a bank card beneath one other individual’s identify.

Safe and easy-to-use decentralized identification will assist everybody. It would have an particularly optimistic impression on individuals in underrepresented communities, the place victims of identification crimes have fewer assets for rebuilding their lives.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shift much more of our lives on-line, it’s gone the time when our nation ought to have SSI for all its residents. Sadly, it is a golden age for identification crime — against the law that continuously harms individuals who can least bear it.

The views, ideas and opinions expressed listed here are the creator’s alone and don’t essentially mirror or characterize the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Jonathan Johnson is the CEO of Overstock and the president of Medici Ventures.