Polygon Revamps ID Verification with Web3, Safeguards Details Against Third Parties

Polygon, created by a team of Indian developers, has emerged among popular blockchains that is not only efficient, but also environment friendly. The team behind Polygon has now launched a new feature called the zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) service, that would give the process of id-verification a Web3 twist. The name of this service is Polygon ID. The platform had begun to work on this service around twelve months ago and its launch was officially announced on Wednesday, March 1.

Using Polygon ID can enable anyone to become an issuer, verifier, or a holder of a Web3 identity. To put things in perspective, KYC providers and DAOs act as issuers. While decentralised apps (dApps) classify as verifiers, Polygon users are categorised as holders.

Users of the Polygon ID service will be able to verify their identities online, that would be safeguarded by cryptographic techniques. This would prevent their personal details like names, phone numbers, and email IDs from being passed to or stored with third-party companies.

“Developers are one step closer to solving the issue of digital trust with the release of the Polygon ID self-sovereign identity infrastructure stack. Developers can unlock a host of new use cases by leveraging Polygon ID. The applications range from Proof of Uniqueness to immediate onboarding that could be used by Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAOs) and Decentralised Finance (DeFi),” Polygon Labs wrote in an official blog post.

The Polygon ID will provide nodes for issuers, software developer kit (SDK) for verifiers, a wallet SDK for wallet creators, as well as a wallet app that works on the eco-friendly blockchain that is up for use by the holders.

The aim behind releasing the Polygon ID is to add a quotient of trust among the members of the Web3 community, who are liable to share their personal information with the crypto firms they are associating with.

“For businesses leveraging Polygon ID, this may mean the end of headaches dealing with user data management. For individuals, it means greater control over their own identity and discretion in how they use their personal data to answer questions from institutions and private organisations,” the post by Polygon Labs further added.

Other Web3 processes like e-commerce customer onboarding, password-less login, and under-collateralised lending have been named among other beneficiaries of the Polygon ID.

“Compliance without sacrificing privacy with zero-knowledge technology, developers can leverage zero-knowledge technology within their existing compliance processes without sacrificing user privacy,” the blog noted.

Some companies have already been using the Polygon ID service. These include Clique, a digital passport application, as well as DePay, a P2P payments application, among other firms.