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