Layer-1 Proof-of-Stake Blockchain Concordium has launched a mobile app that allows users to verify their age without disclosing their identity.
According to a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the new solution (available as a mobile application for iOS and Android) will use Zero Knowledge Proof (ZK Proof) to allow users to prove their age without revealing their identity.
This app creates an encrypted ID that can be used to check ages for third-party services. Concordium assembled its launch as a privacy-friendly alternative to traditional ID-based systems at a time of growing concern over government mandatory verification.
“The truth is that there was no viable age verification system on the web, resulting in fragmentary solutions that were at best ineffective and, at worst, privacy risks,” said Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki, CEO of Concordium.
Personal age verification solution
ZK Proof allows parties to prove they know without revealing any specific information. This type of encryption is particularly popular among privacy-centric cryptocurrency developers, with ZCASH (ZEC) using it for anonymous transfers and using decentralized mixer tornado cash (ETH) for anonymous ether transactions.
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A representative from Concordium told CointeLegraph that the service is a consumer mobile application that can be downloaded on iPhone and Android devices. Consumers can use the app for around $0.01 to create a Concordium ID. This can be used to validate the Integrated Services.
Concordium said the app allows validation of attributes such as name, date of birth, nationality and document type. In fact, he said none of this information was exposed to service providers. Instead, ZK Proof ensures that users meet requirements such as age 18 and above.
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Can the UK Online Age Verification Rules Protect Your Privacy?
The launch follows the controversy over the UK’s recently introduced online ID checks mandated for age verification to view adult content. This is a broad definition so that it includes Wikipedia.
Privacy advocates have strongly criticised the UK’s measures as the VPN app sees the country’s growing popularity as they suggest government officials also crack down on them. The implementation of the new measures was forced on Tuesday.
The UK law requiring identity verification to access adult content is technology neutral. Local Communications Regulator Ofcom said in a guidance document that a reusable digital ID wallet that shares “adult/18 or higher” attributes is a valid implementation.
This could potentially allow us to use ZK proof-based services as long as we meet OFCOM’s “very effective” standards and UK data protection obligations. A Concordium spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company and its partners are “actively involved with Ofcom” in their age verification solution.
Interest in ZK Proof goes beyond crypto projects. Google Wallet, a major search payment and digital card management application, announced in late April that it had integrated ZK Proof for age verification.
“This implementation allows us to provide rapid age verification on a wide range of mobile devices, apps and websites,” Google says.
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