- Internet Computer Protocol unveils new Internet Identity solution dubbed Verified Credentials
Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) has launched Verified Credentials (VCs), a new feature described as a walletless solution designed to promote trust in public discourse.
The Internet Computer officially introduced Verified Credentials at the Digital Identity unConference Europe (DICE) 2024 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Verified Credentials- what are they?
Part of the broader digital identity ecosystem, VCs are Internet Computer’s solution to privacy and fake credentials.
The feature comes with a new application that helps prevent manipulation of public discourse on social media through the elimination of bots and fake accounts, the platform said in a press release.
According to the Internet Computer team, this unveiling is a key development ahead of national elections set to involve almost half of the world’s population in 2024.
As it stands, most people tap into their wallets as their Web3 identity. VCs remove this, offering a walletless solution and tools.
“The new Verifiable Credentials feature of Internet Identity addresses long standing problems for online privacy-preserving authentication: all a user needs is a computing device that has a passkey (all recent ones do) and a browser,” Jan Camenisch, chief technology officer at DFINITY Foundation, noted.
Proof of Unique Humanity (PoUH)
VCs work with decentralized applications on the Internet Computer as well as traditional systems. The latter can plug into the system via Internet Identity, with users asked to authenticate with Verifiable Credentials, which includes proving their age or that they are human.
This is because VCs are digital representations of data for things such as user qualifications, achievements, or personal attributes. Holders can easily share these digital representations online, but within a privacy-preserving framework.
Verified Credentials’ first application with the ICP ecosystem is an implementation dubbed Proof of Unique Humanity (PoUH).
The system taps into OpenChat, a decentralized on-chain messaging app developed by Decide AI, connecting a user’s credentials to biometric data that can be proved as unique and only connected to one account on a given platform. This way, the ecosystem can combat bots and fake accounts on social media.
Digital ID and AI
Internet Computer’s launch of its Verified Credentials comes a few days after another privacy-centric digital identity protocol Privado ID, announced its spin-off from Polygon Labs to focus on the digital identity market
These are among on-chain efforts to fight identity theft and fraud, which recent research has shown affected over 40 million adults in the US in 2022.
AI and the rise of deepfakes has greatly exacerbated the problem, the research report noted.