Starting point and challenge
Various efforts are currently underway in different countries to develop a national digital identity. Many use cases can only be implemented once this identity can be used across borders. For example, a Swiss woman living temporarily in the USA wants to apply for a government document and needs to provide proof of her identity. However, she does not have a digital identity issued by the USA, but only a Swiss E-ID. How can a digital application for the document work?
PoC setup and how our solution works
Procivis has applied for the Silicon Valley Innovation Program of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the topic of “Secure Verifiers and Wallets”. As part of the program, Procivis will work with other selected companies on decentralized digital identities that meet the requirements of cross-border interoperability, taking into account DHS protocol requirements.
In the PoC setup we assume that the Swiss woman has a Swiss E-ID in her wallet. Because the Procivis One solution supports protocols from Switzerland and the DHS protocol family, the Swiss E-ID can be verified in the USA. The application for a government document can therefore be implemented as a seamless, digital and secure process. The government document published by the US authority is in turn stored in the Swiss wallet. This credential could then be presented and verified when crossing the border or in an application process. A separate mobile verifier app is being developed in the event of a check at smaller border posts.
Result and outlook
This project shows that decentralized identities and credentials can be used internationally as long as interoperability between different protocols, formats and systems is ensured. Even in cross-border cases, the focus is on privacy - the Swiss woman can share individual attributes from her credential and always has an overview of when and with whom she has shared which information. This is taking into account the reality for many people who move between two countries or continents.
The selection of Procivis underlines DHS's trust in the company, its experts and its innovative software solution Procivis One for secure, decentralized digital identities.
