BLOG
DID, an Identity Authentication Technology for the Digital Economy Society to Realize SSI
2023.04.19
Greetings from the PARAMETA Team,
We are currently experiencing a world where the digital transformation is rapidly accelerating. In the digital economy, the socio-economic interactions between economic actors and the types of credentials that prove each actor are very diverse compared to traditional economic societies, and a higher level of mutual trust is essential.
For a long time, platform companies have been building ecosystems by gathering users by providing convenient services, creating opportunities for growth. However, there have also been many problems caused by platform giants: services that have been removed from the application market by introducing their own payment system instead of in-app payment, delivery applications that have been controversial due to the promotion of fee reform, and large-scale personal information leaks. The inherent problems of centralized platforms, where users lose control of their data and their privacy is seriously violated, are becoming more and more clear over time.
Against this backdrop, DID (Decentralized Identifier) began to gain attention as a technology that can be used to realize sovereignty over personal information, and it is also a kind of new paradigm that was born to reorganize the centralized, provider-centric authentication market into a user-centric one. In the Web 3.0 era, when the user-centric data economy ecosystem will expand, DID will become an indispensable technology that enables users to manage their personal information by becoming the subject of information exchange without being tied to a specific platform or service.
Let’s take a look at what DID is and how PARAMETA is applying it.
DID is a technology that enables individuals to realize self-sovereign identities by not being controlled by a centralized system and having full control over their information, unlike the existing method of identity authentication where a third party organization or service provider controls the individual’s information in a centralized manner. In the case of a centralized identity system, IDs, passwords, personal information, etc. are stored on the servers of a centralized identity provider or service provider, but in a decentralized identity system through DID, they are stored only on the mobile terminal under the control of the individual.
So what are the key characteristics of the DID?
|
* Metadata: Structured data about data that describes other data
The DID can also be described as the world’s only decentralized identifier that does not require a centralized registration authority because it is registered on a distributed ledger technology or network. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), one of the international web standardization organizations, is currently leading a discussion on the structure of identity authentication using blockchain and has defined and open-sourced a DID Document Syntax.
DID Document Syntax
* Source: https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core
According to the form of DID standardized by the W3C, a DID can be represented as a string and consists of three parts: DID Scheme / DID Method / DID Method-Specific Identifier. The DID Scheme acts as a prefix to indicate that the string is a DID, and is always ‘did’. The DID Method is the definition of how DIDs and DID documents are created and updated, and within the DID string must be defined the name (unconditionally lowercase) of the DID Method in which that DID is used. And the DID Method-Specific Identifier is the identifier used within that DID Method.
DID is a concept that has already existed since the 2000s, but it has been difficult to realize because it requires a ledger that cannot be tampered with. It can be said that the commercialization of the service was possible because the tampering problem was solved through the characteristics of blockchain, which is difficult to tamper with.
Now, let’s take a look at the DID service. First of all, the DID service is composed of four core elements as shown below.
|
The DID service is a self-sovereign method that separates the issuer and the user by Issuer and Verifier, and allows the owner of the identity to directly manage various identity data through the wallet. The identity certified by the issuer is stored only on the user’s device, and the user can selectively provide only the necessary information directly at the time of need, such as when using a service. This is the same as the offline process of issuing a resident ID card at the civic center, keeping it in the user’s possession, and showing it where necessary to verify the identity.
DID service flow
As described above, in the context of an increasingly high level of mutual trust, digital identity authentication services utilizing DID technology can solve problems such as privacy leaks caused by the monopolization of personal identities by third parties and return sovereignty over personal identities and data on the web to the individual.
Since the early days of DID, when awareness of the technology was low, PARAMETA has focused on research and development, commercialization, and awareness raising, and has applied its DID technology in a variety of ways across multiple industries.
PARAMETA has incorporated the entire DID technology into its own DID identity authentication platform, MyID, which consists of smart contracts for creating and managing DIDs and VCs, an API to facilitate their use, and a server to store related data. In addition, Parameta provides SDKs (Software Development Kits) for issuers and verifiers for authentication, and SDKs for implementing DID wallets, enabling faster service deployment.
In addition, PARAMETA also provide the Vault system to manage private keys and a PDS to manage personal information such as VC in a cloud format, enabling you to build a more complete service.
Configuring the MyID Platform
Provide blockchain identity authentication service based on MyID Platform (DID)
Based on the MyID platform, ‘zzeung’ is a blockchain identity authentication service that allows users to encrypt and store their identity information once authenticated through a trusted organization on their mobile phones, and then select and submit their personal information when they need to submit it.
Designated as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission, the service supports the use of real-name authentication when opening non-face-to-face accounts and financial business, as well as various authentication methods such as QR check-in and certificate management in one place.
Integration of online and offline identity authentication by applying MyID (DID) technology to integrated service platforms ‘Nayana’ and ‘Gangwon Health Up’
PARAMETA’s DID identity authentication technology has been applied to ‘Nayana’, an integrated service platform to support all non-face-to-face economic activities such as providing convenience through digital service integration, under the vision of ‘digital transformation of all citizens, the entire economy, and the entire province of Gangwon-do’. Blockchain technology has been applied to various fields such as citizen identity authentication, qualification certification, and finance by simplifying the existing complex application process and preparatory documents and integrating online and offline identity authentication.
In particular, the DID technology applied to this service enables users to grasp the administrative services that suit them at a glance through the data provided by the user when issuing the DID and the user’s personalization, and also expands the range of services for users through existing DID services such as ‘Gangwon Health Up’.
Establishing an integrated authentication system by applying MyID (DID) technology to the ‘CHANGeUP GROUND’
PARAMETA’s DID technology was applied to ‘CHANGe UP GROUND,’ a startup space operated by POSCO to foster venture companies, to issue credentials to tenants and various certificate authorities such as POSCO and Postech according to their needs. Through this, various functions required for CHANGe UP GROUND, such as access control, visitor authentication, parking control, and meeting room reservation, were embedded in DID, enabling users to easily handle all authentication with one mobile phone terminal for a convenient and reliable authentication system.
PARAMETA’s DID Application History
■ 2018.11: Registered the first DID-related W3C Method Registry in Korea
■ 2019.06: Designated ‘MyID’ as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission and applied for a special exception to the financial regulatory sandbox
■ 2019.07: Launched ‘DPASS’, a blockchain identity authentication (DID) service
■ 2019.11: Leading organization of ‘MyID Alliance’, the largest DID council in Korea consisting of about 86 partners
■ 2020.04: ‘MyID’ passed security review by the Financial Security Institute
■ 2020.04: Participated in the establishment of ‘Distributed ID Standard’ hosted by the Financial Security Institute
■ 2020.06: Participated in the ‘Financial Authentication TF’ organized by the Financial Services Commission
■ 2020.06: Participated in the ‘2020 Blockchain Technology and Industry Policy Forum’ hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT
■ 2020.07: Participated in the ‘Public-Private DID Council’ organized by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA)
■ 2020.08: Launched ‘MyID’ based DID identity authentication service, ‘zzeung’
■ 2020.08: Issued Korea’s first financial business DID with Shinhan Bank
■ 2020.11: Applied DID through ‘zzeung’ to the blockchain-based Gangwon-do chronic disease integrated management platform
■ 2020.11: Applied blockchain DID technology to SK Telecom’s IoT smart home service ‘NUGU Smart Home’
■ 2020.12: Issued DID for Jeju-type tourism quarantine system ‘Jeju Safety Code’
■ 2020.12 : Extended ‘MyID’ innovative financial service designation period by 2 years
■ 2020.12: Acquired temporary permission for ICT regulatory sandbox for ‘zzeung_mobile driver’s license service’
■ 2021.01: Issuance of blockchain-based Seoul resident’s card and integration with ‘zzeung’
■ 2021.03: Applied access control system based on ‘MyID’ platform to Orange Life headquarters
■ 2021.05: Applied DID technology to Gangwon-do’s digital integration service platform ‘Nayana’
PARAMETA will continue to strive to create a world where individuals fully own data ownership by providing practical value through DID technology.