Digital Identity Using Blockchain Technology

Abstract

In recent years, the development of blockchain technology has brought a wide spectrum of potential application scenarios from finance to healthcare, IoT, management and many more. This is because the blockchain, a distributed digital ledger, acts as an environment of trust and transparency. The subject of digital identity is getting more and more attention as it represents more than just replacing physical documents (e.g. ID cards, driver's license) with digital data. It would enable the digitalization and automation of the process of identification as well as protect people against identity theft and fraud. This paper proposes and implements a model for digital identity that relies on blockchain technology and cryptography to ensure the privacy, validity and integrity of personal user data. These are obtained with the help of cryptographic signatures, which are the digital representation of physical signatures or stamps. A set of trusted authorities are in charge of issuing cryptographic signatures and storing them on the blockchain. Through issued cryptographic signatures, the authorities account for the digital identity of the users, similar to how public institutions issue identity documents for their citizens which prove their identity. Using digital identity in multi-participant decision support systems improves the decision-making process through trust, anonymity and interoperability.