Buenos Aires planning ambitious decentralized digital identity system with biometrics

The Argentinian capital Buenos Aires is planning to establish a decentralized digital identity platform including biometrics for public and private sector use, as shown in a white paper still in development.

The platform is intended as a blockchain-based, public, non-permissioned platform, the Secretary of Innovation and Digital Transformation Diego Fernández told CoinDesk.

The ‘Buenos Aires+’ digitization plan includes enabling tax payments in cryptocurrency, an official announced during an online presentation reported by Bitcoin.com.

The system is based heavily on decentralized identifiers (DIDs), and refers to the W3C’s DID-CORE specification. The blockchain element is intended to maximize transparency, a key concern following a headline-grabbing hack of Argentina’s digital ID system last year, followed by revelations of irregular police access to biometric records, the latter of which involved the City of Buenos Aires Government.

The white paper remains unfinished at this time, however.

The entirety of the sixth chapter, on the role of biometrics in the system, as translated by Google, states:

“Note 1: This section will include the relevant definitions and criteria for the implementation of biometrics in the creation and management of self-sovereign identities, access credentials and transaction authorization, among others that may arise.

Note 2: Incorporate FIDO standards in this section.”

The Spanish-language document has been posted to GitHub.

FIDO Alliance biometrics standards include the Biometric Component Certification Program and Biometric Certification Authenticator Requirements.

The digital ID system could be used by Buenos Aires residents to access city services, as well as transact with financial services providers.

Fernández says the city will define the platform’s architecture and decide which blockchain to build it with in the next three months, with a six month development process following that, with a launch target of late-2022 or the first quarter of 2023.

Article Topics

Argentina  |  biometrics  |  blockchain  |  Buenos Aires  |  cryptocurrency  |  decentralized identifiers (DIDs)  |  digital economy  |  digital identity  |  FIDO Alliance  |  financial services  |  government services  |  self-sovereign identity