United Nations backs blockchain-powered permanent identity tool for refugees
A U.N.-backed project built by Accenture and Microsoft aims to provide a permanent digital ID to 1.1 billion people around the globe who have no official identity, including many of the world’s refugees. The project, ID2020, on Monday unveiled a new blockchain-supported network designed to build a permanent and legal identity using biometric data on a person’s phone. Lacking access to identity excludes people from voting, health care, banking, housing and a wide range of modern rights. The new tool was unveiled at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday during the second ID2020 summit, a “ID2020 is a public-private partnership dedicated to solving the challenges of identity” for individuals including the world’s 22 million refugees. The blockchain is a reliable, decentralized database that was first used publicly to track the bitcoin cryptocurrency. The method — also known as distributed ledger technology — is increasingly being explored to securely track data outside of currency. […]
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