Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
October 15, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- A white paper released
recently from Microsoft describes a plan to develop two new
products that use blockchain technology to give citizens total
control of their identity information and unify storage methods in
a decentralized fashion. This concept is nothing new to the
blockchain industry. There are several startups that have been
developing these type of systems for years. The more difficult part
will be actually implementing a platform in a way that the majority
of both public and private organizations can agree on.
The first product combines the already widely used Microsoft cloud
storage services and a encrypted personal data store to create a
sort of "identity hub." It services user's personal devices and
cloud storage through Microsoft Azure. Users could store identity
information in this hub with stipulated permissions for providing
access to third parties. In crontrast, the current systems have
created countless of third party storage systems storing the same
information in different places instead of mutual
access.
The next product is a "wallet-like app" that people could use to
control their identity hub and communicate between the Azure
network and others they are trying to permit or deny from accessing
certain parts of their identity information.
Decentralized Identifiers
Both of these products build on the foundation of decentralized
identifiers (DIDs). These term, and preliminary designs were
created by the World Wide Web Foundation (W3C).
"If you start with the premise of what blockchain can do for
identity, it opens up the aperture to think about how you can have
a consumer- or constituent-owned ID that then you can do different
things with," Yorke Rhodes, a program manager on Microsoft's
blockchain engineering team, told CoinDesk in a podcast interview
last month.
DIDs do not require a central authority. They are anchored on a
distributed ledger or other type of decentralized system. Something
like a phone number or a Twitter handle is in control of the
company that hosts the system. DIDs and the new “identity hubs” are
always under the user's control.
Microsoft’s pen-source implementation of DIDs would work as a
second layer on top of multiple blockchains. In this way it will be
"designed for world-scale use… establish a unified, interoperable
ecosystem that developers and businesses can rely on to build a new
wave of products, applications, and services.”
A Step Beyond the Decentralized Identity Foundation
This is not Microsoft’s first steps into the field. They were a
founding member of the Decentralized Identity Foundation. They
wants to make sure that the systems created today don't become "new
islands like the social media islands of today, where you can't
connect an identity from LinkedIn to Twitter, to Facebook, to
WeChat, to Weibo.”
Further Applications
Microsoft plans to expand the range of identity types that can be
integrated. Their already in place enterprise ID system called
Active Directory will be recognized by the new blockchain-based
decentralized identities. This would allow companies to seamlessly
onboard a new hire, recognize a decentralized ID that she controls,
and associate it with their new corporate employee ID.
"We are committed to establishing Open Standards and contributing
to Open Source to make Decentralized Identity successful. As we
make further progress, we will make appropriate contributions. With
such a vibrant space, there are many such opportunities [to work on
common standards]. We continue to evaluate and will participate in
the ones that are most meaningful. We are committed to working with
DIF, W3C, as well other industry or standards group that we believe
can help realize a successful Decentralized Identity platform."
-
Ankur Patel, principal program manager at Microsoft
By: BGN Editorial Staff