For the last three years, 4thpillar Technologies (4thtech) has been hard at work creating a decentralized identity mechanism for blockchain. After numerous revisions and iterations, the company has announced that it has a complete concept (FOURid) capable of reliably connecting a blockchain wallet to an individual or corporate entity. Upon implementation, this service will be a step forward in productivity for small and enterprise companies alike.
The problem 4thtech is solving is with FOURid is the thousands of man-hours lost in falsified documents. Even in the digital age, much office work and documents are still done on paper. Between converting paper documents to digital versions, sending, and then receiving them, there are several opportunities for them to be intercepted and falsified. Our previous pieces on 4thtech have gone into greater detail about how a digital identity could streamline this process, ensuring that the data sent and received is the same.
One of the key components to FOURid is the integration of the X.509 Public Key Infrastructure. This internationally recognized certification standard is used to guard against malicious website impersonators and used in security standards including HTTPS. The European Union has already adopted the X.509 standard, making it a prime candidate for blockchain implementation in the EU.
From a user perspective, the 4thtech Medium article describes the steps needed to set up the wallet.
- User wallet creation using 4thtech blockchain wallet;
- Digital certificate (i.e. x.509 standard) user KYC connection process;
- Identity verification check with the user’s digital certificate, and;
- Link creation between the verified user and his/her wallet.
This will create a link from the KYC’d user to their 4thtech wallet. Now, any document sent from that wallet can be verified as being sent from a particular person or business.
On paper, this process does not seem complicated. However, moving a system, no matter how rudimentary, from a centralized to a decentralized platform is an ambitious task. Truly decentralized and verifiable systems have existed only since the creation of blockchain eleven years ago. Progressing from a glorified database to a decentralized identity solution within that time is no small task. Even more popular Web 3.0 protocols like Polkadot are still in their infancy, with new solutions proposed on a daily basis. Now that the FOURid concept is completed, production can begin on the underlying system and cross-chain compatibility.
FOURid will be a central component of FOURns, 4thtech’s notarization service. Once 4thtech’s services are functional they will be an MVP for document verification in the EU and abroad.
Website – https://the4thpillar.io/
Medium – https://medium.com/the4thpillar
