Privado ID launches digital wallet to address repetitive identity verification

Privado ID, a developer of privacy-focused biometric tools, has introduced a new digital wallet aimed at streamlining identity verification processes. According to Privado, the “Web Wallet” reduces the time and customer interaction points needed for verification by 50 percent.

The wallet incorporates self-sovereign identity (SSI) technology into decentralized applications, giving users more control over their digital identities, as Privado ID CPO Sebastian Rodriguez recently explained to Biometric Update in an interview. This control includes selective disclosure capabilities, and improves privacy and security while reducing reliance on centralized identity providers.

The digital wallet addresses repetitive identity verification, including required know your customer (KYC) checks during app logins. Using the Privado ID Web Wallet, the credential creation process is shortened from 9 to 4 steps, the company says. These reusable credentials can be utilized across multiple applications.

Verax, a public registry for on-chain attestation storage, is among the early adopters of Privado ID’s digital wallet, which is intended to support the Linea ecosystem for web3 dapps (decentralized apps). Verax is integrated with Gitcoin Passport and ZKPass, among other projects.

“The integration with Verax enables users to bring aspects of their reputation on-chain, thereby gaining benefits such as eligibility for rewards or access to additional services,” says Arthur Remy, product manager at Linea.

According to the company, the integration with the Linea ekEVM chain expands the company’s capabilities beyond the Polygon network. Identity verification can be added to the system with just a few lines of code using Query Builder, a no-coding tool, says Privado.

By utilizing biometric data to confirm unique identities, Privado allows users to acquire Proof-of-Uniqueness attestations with verifiable credentials based on biometric data.

Privado intends to enhance its digital wallet with new features to verify critical aspects of user identity, like Proof-of-Identity and Proof-of-Liveness, addressing security risks of deepfakes and generative AI.

The company is forming strategic partnerships with both on-chain and institutional organizations, including conducting proof-of-concept projects with multinational banking and financial service firms. The objective here is to establish compliant and interoperable identity frameworks.

“We aim to create an open ecosystem where new credential issuers can easily offer their services to all verifiers with minimal barriers to entry,” says Antoni Martin, co-founder of Privado ID.

While digital wallets have traditionally been used for financial transactions, a recent report indicates that their use in other kinds of interactions is growing. The report from Pymnts and Google Wallet shows 8.7 percent of U.S. consumers now use them to store credentials for purposes beyond sales, such as accessing places, events, or services. Only 4.1 percent of Americans currently use a digital wallet for access control or travel, but 21 percent of consumers in the UK already use digital wallets in this way. Furthermore, legislation around the world is setting up more future use of digital wallets by consumers for identity verification.

Web3 digital wallets options abound

Many of the interactions of the future that digital wallet providers foresee, both financial and otherwise, take place in web3 ecosystems.

The Algorand Foundation has introduced LiquidAuth, an open-source platform designed to decentralize authentication communication between digital wallets and dapps for both web3 and web2 users.

By reducing reliance on centralized wallet providers, this solution aims to address the primary vulnerabilities associated with such providers, which can result in a single point of failure affecting millions of users.

LiquidAuth uses open standards such as FIDO2 and Passkeys for authenticated communication within web3 and to minimize centralized control, the company says.

Web3 digital wallet provider Trust Wallet has achieved 122 million total downloads. Since its launch in 2017, the company has supported 10 million digital assets across 100+ blockchains.

“Trust Wallet is designed to be user-friendly, so even if you’re new to the world of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance, you can navigate it easily,” says Eowyn Chen, CEO of Trust Wallet.

OneFi will transition from its current application to a web3 digital wallet in the final quarter of 2024. The platform will allow users to access their digital identity and authenticate nationality and wealth level through an open banking API and sentimental analytics.

Onto Wallet has formed a partnership with Fiat24 to incorporate Swiss IBAN and web3 banking services into its platform. Users can now leverage the enhanced features of the latest version (v4.7.2) of the digital wallet to gain access to the “Fiat24” tab.

Article Topics

Algorand Foundation  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  identity verification  |  OneFi  |  Onto Wallet  |  Privado ID  |  self-sovereign identity  |  Trust Wallet  |  web3