Search for Certification & Authentication Use Cases here
We have talked about certification and authentication a number of times in the book, and want to just remind you of the key areas where Blockchain technology will help these two use cases:
- Individual identification (DiD)
- Certification of achievements and qualifications
- Intellectual property across all intangible products and services
- Certifying a country or Place of origin
- Identifying the owners of digital products and designs
“With the increased cases of identity theft and data leaks all around the world, authentication is a major concern. Authentication as to the person accessing the data is actually the one who they claim to be.
What if you can prove that you are the exact same person you are claiming to be with just one digital identity using the blockchain technology? Wouldn’t it be convenient to authenticate yourself with such ease for services at banks, government offices, airports or wherever you need to provide a proof of identity?
Blockchain uses the key-pair for the users to register their identity. The personal information is stored in form of hashes which can be used for several identity-related attributes like name, unique identity number or social security number, finger-print or other biometric information.
After that, the user can request a recognized party to verify the hashes by authenticating that the information provided on the blockchain is true. So now whenever someone requires user’s identity for any kind of authentication or identification mechanism, they can use the hashes of the block pre-verified by the trusted recognized party.”
“Blockchain’s ability to provide transparency while protecting data’s intrinsic security, veracity and above all, value, makes it useful to supply chains. In modern, multi-echelon, global distribution networks it’s all too easy to lose data accuracy. But, for instance, blockchain could validate the provenance of raw material in the food, medicine or consumer goods supply chain, a track and trace task that has been very difficult and expensive”
Certification and Authentication benefits and outcomes
“Smart” IP rights
“The potential to use blockchain technology for the management of IP rights is vast. Recording IP rights in a distributed ledger rather than a traditional database could effectively turn them into “smart IP rights”.
Related is the idea of IP offices using distributed ledger technology to create “smart IP registries” in the form of a centralized solution run by the IP office as an accountable authority which would create an immutable record of events in the life of a registered IP right. It could include when a trademark was first applied for, registered, first used in trade; when a design, trademark or patent was licensed, assigned, and so on. It would also resolve the practicalities of collating, storing and providing such evidence.
The ability to track the entire life cycle of a right would have many benefits, including smoother IP right audits. It could also simplify the due diligence exercises that are necessary for IP transactions, for example in mergers and acquisitions. Confidentiality concerns on the side of the IP owners could be addressed by an opt-in scheme.”
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2018/01/article_0005.html