Swiss Government Using uPort to Register Zug Citizens

Source: https://www.thenational.ae/business/technology/setting-the-stage-for-digital-transformation-1.677327

The stage of digital transformation is all set to blow up the way government IDs work in the present day. A live example of which is set by the Swiss government — the citizens living in Zug canton have their own digital, decentralised, sovereign identity. This identity can be used to take part in all government related activities like casting vote, proving identity and what not!

Imagine a scene where you wouldn’t have to display your government identity proof each time you wish to prove your identity, rather you just use your phone to scan a QR code and the system would know its you.

The features of such an identity are the following:

1. Digital: No paper required. Everything is on the web and it is automated.
2. Decentralised: No single siloed database would be used which may be susceptible to security infringement.
3. Sovereign: Your identity is under your control and not under government’s control, and it is all in your phone.

The following is a PoC of how Swiss government is using it. This is a brilliant PoC in my opinion.

This same identity can be used at all places. It is similar to logging in with Facebook. The difference is that while logging in with Facebook, Facebook owned your identity whereas while logging in with uPort you’d have your identity under your control. Facebook is centralised 3rd party, uPort is decentralised in nature which stores identity files on IPFS and uses Ethereum blockchain.

You can check out official uPort article on this subject here.

My next article would be a hands-on tutorial on how to create a uPort login and integrate it with just about anything!