KILT Protocol Introduces SocialKYC: Decentralised Identity Verification

KILT Protocol, developed by BOTlab in Germany, made an official announcement to inform markets of the launch of SocialKYC. The new suite of tools, SocialKYC, is a decentralized identity verification service designed to regain user’s control over their own private digital identity.

The beauty of utilizing a service like SocialKYC is that users are able to manage and store their personal credentials within the platform, but most importantly, users can select which elements of their private information can be accessed by online services.

KILT Protocol Brings SocialKYC to Markets

Lets step back a little to better visualize the scope of this innovative technology.

KILT Protocol is an open-source blockchain protocol responsible for issuing decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials. KILT becomes the middleware platform between traditional processes of trust in the real world (like IDs, passports, driving licence, etc) and the digital world.

KILT represents your identity while keeping your personal data in your possession, safe and private.

Later this year, the KILT mainnet will be launched within the Polkadot ecosystem, becoming a parachain on the Kusama network. SocialKYC will launch shortly after the KILT mainnet is fully deployed and running.

One of the key collaborators in developing SocialKYC is Galaniprojects, a Berlin-based IT consulting firm serving global clients in several areas like media publishing, telecommunications, automotive, and transport.

Once SocialKYC is launched, it will accessible through:

• Polkadex, a DeFi or decentralized crypto finance exchange firm
• Fractal Protocol, a ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) decentralized identity provider
• Subsocial Network, an open protocol for decentralized social networks and marketplaces, with a built-in monetization method
• GameDAO, a decentralized autonomous cooperative providing DeFi services for the video game industry. This DAO grants sustainability in the business design of fundraising, operations, and ownership platforms of videogame economies.
• DeBio Network, an anonymous-first platform for medical and bioinformatics data allowing synergy between labs of all scales, while guaranteeing user anonymity and sovereignty at every step.

How Does Social KYC Work?

Within the current Web 2.0 world, users are required to provide personal credentials like email addresses and phone numbers to have access to free internet services.

These credentials are plausible of being shared between service partners and subsidiaries (fellow business partners), without users’ awareness and permission. These applications too often bypass users to access these services and authenticate user credentials.

KYC or “Know Your Customer” became the standard procedure when opening an account with a bank or exchange. Users need to provide government-issued credentials like a passport or other personal ID credentials.

The novelty with SocialKYC is that the service will be able to verify the user’s internet identity by proving control of their social accounts (like LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, Discord, Github, etc.), email address, or phone number.

The key difference is that after the credential is used to validate a digital identity, SocialKYC service forgets about the user and the credential. This authentication process implies that personal data is not stored, siloed or shared as it happens today in Web 2.0 sign-in processes.

A Better KYC

The verification process starts in a similar way to the known KYC’s processes but substantially differs in the final step. To certify that the user has control of its social accounts, SocialKYC challenges the user to fulfill a response, like posting a specific text on Twitter, clicking an email link, or confirming a code sent via SMS.

Ingo Rübe, the founder of KILT Protocol, commented,

“In the real world you have control of your credentials. You have credentials in your wallet at all times; you decide who to share them with, and for what purpose, and when. Ironically we have lost this control in the digital world…SocialKYC is designed to liberate consumers, putting their digital identity back in their hands.”

Once the user’s authentication is done successfully, SocialKYC sends Verifiable Credentials to the user that remain in their sole possession and control. Hereafter, users can use these credentials across many services – such as gaming, genetics labs, exchanges, media companies – whenever they want.

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