California-based Netki has announced a new identity assurance solution for emerging blockchain services.
In a statement, Netki CEO Justin Newton explained that the Netki Digital ID system is meant to help meet the “global legal and compliance requirements” that blockchain transaction auditing must address. To that end, the company says it enables the capture of end users “documents and biometrics via their smartphone”.
The company hasn’t yet offered further details on the underlying mechanisms for such authentication, but its Digital ID solution will presumably compete against rivals like Jumio, whose Netverify platform uses document reading and facial recognition for identity confirmation via mobile device.
Netki has elaborated on how identity data will be exchanged through its system, noting that a new peer-to-peer payment protocol that it co-authored, BIP75, ensures that the identity data of both the sender and receiver in a transaction, as well as their respective financial institutions, are validated through encrypted channels using a digital identity certificate adhering to a globally recognized government standard. In other words, the privacy and anonymity of each participant in the transaction can be assured. This is not far off from the digital identity ideal championed by Edward Snowden at the recent K(NO)W Identity Conference, and could prove to be a key selling point for Netki’s solution.
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