Journal of Blockchain Research

Volume 1 (2022)

Number 1

Distributed ecosystem for identity management

Pages: 51 – 63

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4310/JBR.2022.v1.n1.a5

Author

Rishabh Garg (Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, K.K. Birla Campus, Goa, India)

Abstract

The blockchain identity ecosystem offers the possibility of rejecting the outdated identity system and eliminate the intermediaries. Identity management, through blockchain, can allow individuals to take ownership of their identity by creating a global identity (ID) to serve multiple purposes. For user security and ledger consistency, asymmetric cryptography and distributed consensus algorithms can be implemented. Blockchain technology would be able to save costs and increase efficiency due to its key features such as decentralization, persistence, anonymity and auditability. In addition, the digital identity platform would save citizens’ time in accessing or exchanging their personal data and records. Instead of being required to appear physically before the service provider, the user may be provided with a digital ID through his/her personal device, such as a smartphone, through which he/she can share his identity details with the service provider, using distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Keywords

blockchain, decentralized apps (dApps), data portability, decentralized public key infrastructure (DPKI), decentralized identifiers (DID), Ethereum, hash, identity management system (IMS), IPFS, private key, public key, revocation, self sovereign identity, storage variables, validation, zero knowledge proof

Received 27 February 2022

Accepted 15 May 2022

Published 13 October 2022