- China has introduced a new service for verifying the identity of its citizens.
- The service will reach “all walks of life in society.”
- The service comes with controls to address user privacy concerns.
China is accelerating its plan to use blockchain technology in verifying the identity of its 1.4 billion citizens, according to an announcement made at a conference held in Beijing on December 12.
Dubbed the real-name DID (RealDID) service, the latest digital identity initiative is a collaborative effort between China’s national-level Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) and the Ministry of Public Security.
China’s First National-Level Decentralized ID System
According to the announcement, the RealDID service integrates two primary infrastructures of the BSN and the Cyber Technology Identity Card (CTID) chain to complement the management requirements of “anonymity at the front desk and real name at the backend.”
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The statement noted that once launched officially, the initiative will play an important role in fostering the development of the digital economy and supporting the construction of national data infrastructure.
“It provides "authoritative, safe, credible and convenient" unified network identity authentication services to all walks of life in society, playing an important role in many fields such as government affairs and people's livelihood, transportation, medical health, financial services, digital communications and so on,” the statement read.
Although China’s move will likely spark concern among data privacy proponents, the RealDID service will launch with multiple application scenarios, including the BSN personal privacy protection login service.
User Privacy Control Measures
Per the statement, when accessing the RealDID service, users will have control over using their personal digital identities and information by choosing what they want to disclose to different businesses.
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Similarly, the service will mandate businesses to obtain “necessary and minimized” information to enhance their ability to protect personal privacy and data security.
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