Buenos Aires in Argentina to give citizens a digital ID built on blockchain technology
In Buenos Aires, the initial records accessible on the blockchain will encompass birth and marriage certificates, along with evidence of income and academic validation.
Highlights
- Argentina unveils ambitious digital identity initiative powered by QuarkID
- Controversy surrounds worldcoin digital ID project as privacy concerns
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is embarking on a groundbreaking venture to streamline its bureaucratic processes through the integration of blockchain technology. Commencing in October, residents of the city will have the ability to access their identity documents through a digital wallet, as announced on 28 September.
The initial set of documents to be made available on the blockchain will encompass birth and marriage certificates, as well as evidence of income and academic qualifications.
Revolutionising government services
The official statement highlights future plans to incorporate health data and payment management into the system, with a comprehensive roadmap for nationwide implementation expected to be outlined by the close of 2023.
The backbone of this pioneering initiative is QuarkID, a digital identity protocol developed by the Web3 company Extrimian. The QuarkID wallets leverage ZkSync Era, an Ethereum scaling protocol utilising zero-knowledge rollups.
This innovative technology enables one party to substantiate the truth of a statement to another without divulging specific details about the statement itself. Guillermo Villanueva, CEO of Extrimian, explained the significance of this move, stating, "This is a monumental step towards a safer and more efficient future for government services in Latin America."
The data housed within these wallets will be self-sovereign, granting citizens control over the release of their credentials when engaging with governmental bodies, businesses, and other individuals. ZkSync Era will serve as the settlement layer for QuarkID, ensuring the accuracy of each citizen's credentials. Both the Argentine government and the City of Buenos Aires envision this digital identity framework as a public good.
With this development, Buenos Aires becomes the first city in Latin America, and one of the first in the world, to integrate and promote this new technology and set the standard for how other countries in the region should use blockchain technology for the benefit of their people.
Argentina probes worldcoin's digital ID project
Concurrently, Argentine authorities are exploring a parallel initiative in the form of the Worldcoin digital ID project. However, concerns have been raised about Worldcoin's privacy practices regarding the collection, storage, and utilisation of customer data, prompting an investigation by local officials in August.
The project, founded by Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, has faced scrutiny not only in Argentina but also in Europe and Africa since its global launch in July, particularly due to its utilisation of retinal scans for user verification
