FacePhi Partners With Anonybit to Develop Decentralized IDs

FacePhi is continuing to work toward decentralized identity through a new partnership with Anonybit. The latter specializes in the creation of decentralized biometric templates, and has entered into a bilateral agreement with FacePhi to leverage its facial recognition technology in the creation of those secure biometric IDs.

As with most decentralized identity projects, the broader goal is to give individual civilians more control over their personal information. However, FacePhi noted that most of the organizations that issue decentralized IDs still maintain a central database that remains outside of the control of end users. That database can then be referenced whenever someone needs to know whether or not an ID is authentic, but it also means that the user does not have full control and that at least some information is vulnerable to potential hackers.

Anonybit’s solution is designed to solve that problem, giving third parties a way to confirm that someone’s ID is legitimate without needing to store that identity data on its own servers. As a result, Anonybit can offer identity assurances without encroaching on anyone’s privacy.

“Our patented technology solves a long-time problem of distributed biometric data storage and matching and eliminates the trade-offs we have been making up until now between privacy and security,” said Anonybit CEO Frances Zelazny. “Our collaboration with FacePhi involves adapting its algorithm in our decentralised identity vault, maintaining a high level of security and performance, whilst preserving the privacy of our users.”

“It is important that all people have the right and the possibility of owning their own digital identity and make decisions regarding the day-to-day management of it, without having to wait for a third party to validate their own information,” added FacePhi President and CEO Javier Mira. 

This is FacePhi’s second major decentralized identity announcement in as many months. In September, the company revealed that its facial recognition technology was being used in a new government-backed smart city project on Jeju Island in South Korea. That project will issue decentralized IDs to residents and visitors, using FacePhi’s facial recognition technology for onboarding and for subsequent identity verification. FacePhi also unveiled a new modular Identity Platform at Money20/20.

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October 29, 2021 – by Eric Weiss