Blockchain Digital Identification in Canada Coming in 2018

Finding ways to prove consumer identity with 100 percent accuracy has been a tough task. Everything from simple cards to fingerprints to iris scans have been used in different applications to provide identity certainty. However, most biometric systems require huge amounts of infrastructure and are cost-prohibitive, while simpler and cheaper methods are often not secure.

Canada has now embraced a solution for this security/cost dichotomy. A new system based on Blockchain technology will allow Canadian citizens to prove who they are instantaneously, and with 100 percent accuracy.

The power of Blockchain

The underpinning power for this effective and cost efficient solution is Blockchain technology. The system allows consumers to store all their personal data on a single device – a personal phone.

When a consumer needs to share that data, they need to simply give the institution their private key for the data, and through the Blockchain, all the information is available for that institution only.

Private options

The system provides a simple solution for consumers who don’t want their data stored on a number of different databases – points of weakness for hackers to take advantage. For non-Canadian citizens, some private companies like SelfKey and others are also offering similar solutions.

The movement of personal data onto individual storage devices keeps data secure. Hackers, like those in the recent Equifax issue, have no motivation to seek out other sources of data since companies have no internal data storage. The system in Canada will come online in early 2018.