B.T.E. launches SocialKYC, a decentralized identity service that disrupts KYC methods

Rick Steves

“This avoids your personal data being shared, sold or otherwise ‘monetized’ by third parties without your knowledge or benefit.”

BOTLabs Trusted Entity GmbH (B.T.E.) has launched a decentralized identity service which helps users to regain control over their digital data.

BOTLabs, B.T.E.’s parent company is the initial developer of KILT, the first fully decentralized identity blockchain in the Polkadot ecosystem.

SocialKYC avoids monetization of personal data

B.T.E. is now bringing decentralized identity to a new nevel by introducing SocialKYC, a service that allows users to manage, store and present their personal credentials, enabling them to select which elements of their private information are accessed by online services.

Built on KILT Protocol, it issues credentials to users confirming the ownership of their email address or social media accounts after the user proves that they control the account.

SocialKYC proposes to expand the standard practice of “Know Your Customer” (KYC) using individuals’ social accounts in order to build a digital identity online without involving the traditional KYC methods.

Ingo Rübe, Founder of KILT Protocol and CEO of BOTLabs, said: “Unlike sign-in processes on the internet to date, SocialKYC forgets about the user and the credential as soon as the credential is issued. This avoids your personal data being shared, sold or otherwise ‘monetized’ by third parties without your knowledge or benefit. From brick and mortar to metaverse, there are SocialKYC use case opportunities wherever social trust is needed.”

KYC for gaming, e-sports, healthcare, academia, media

SocialKYC has already integrated KYC functionalities for email and Twitter, and credentials for social platforms such as Discord, GitHub, Twitch. The service intends to add other platforms in the future as the firm expands its capabilities.

The solution has plans to expand its future applications, including gaming, e-sports leagues, health care, academia, media, and decentralized social networks.

B.T.E. explained that to set up an account, users must create their KILT identity in Sporran, a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome that was created by B.T.E. as a gateway to the KILT blockchain.

Sporran serves as a wallet for KILT Coins and KILT credentials, enabling users to manage several identities, create on-chain DIDs (Decentralized Identifiers) for them and subsequently add Verifiable Credentials to the DIDs.

How it works:

SocialKYC first sends the user a simple task to verify their control of a specific account.
After a successful check, SocialKYC issues a credential to the user which remains under their full control. The credential states the ownership or control of the specific account.
This personal data is not stored or shared by SocialKYC. It remains in the user’s wallet on their personal device under their full control.
The user can then present these credentials to any online service that accepts them, when and how they prefer.
Users can also choose to publish one or more of their credentials, making them accessible to anyone. Published credentials can be unpublished by the user at any time.

 

Read this next

Digital Assets

Cathie Wood’s sponsored Bitcoin ETF sees historic $200 million inflows

The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), co-sponsored by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, registered historic inflows exceeding $200 million on Wednesday, signaling a robust appetite among investors for Bitcoin-centric investments.

Digital Assets

Sam Bankman-Fried might see his 25-year sentence halved

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison by a Manhattan court on Thursday. This comes after he was convicted of defrauding customers and investors, with Judge Lewis Kaplan highlighting the potential future risks posed by Bankman-Fried.

Technical Analysis

EURJPY Technical Analysis Report 28 March, 2024

EURJPY currency pair under the bearish pressure after the pair reversed down from the major resistance level 164.25, which also stopped the sharp weekly uptrend at the end of last year,

Digital Assets

BlockDAG’s Presale Hits $9.9M, MultiversX & MINA Price Predictions Show Green

Read about BlockDAG’s promising $10 prediction and insights on MultiversX Price Prediction as MINA’s potential unfolds.

Digital Assets

Rockstar Co-Founder and All-star Line Up Join Advisory Board to Take Metacade into Post Beta Orbit

Metacade, the revolutionary Web3 gaming platform, prepares to streak out of beta with a slew of ground-breaking initiatives that will redefine the way blockchain games are developed.

Retail FX

Prop firm The Funded Trader shuts down, claims relaunch in April

Prop trading firm The Funded Trader has ceased all operations, with claims for a relaunch in the near future.

Digital Assets

Ethereum-Based Tokenized Real Estate Platform USP Launches On Republic

How This Californian Startup Is Revolutionizing Real Estate Investment through Ethereum-Based Tokenization.

Digital Assets

Sui Spikes in Weekly DEX Volume, Joins Top 10 of All Blockchains

March DEX volume on Sui stands at over $2.88B – up more than 49% from February – with decentralized exchange Cetus and wholesale liquidity layer DeepBook leading.

Digital Assets

Prisma Finance suffers $10 million crypto exploit, attack ongoing

Liquid staking protocol Prisma Finance fell victim to a security exploit on March 28, resulting in nearly $10 million in Prisma mkUSD and wrapped stETH being stolen by hackers.

<