Are DIDs like BChat ID the Future of Digital Identities?

Personal & Online Identities

Personal identities have long since been used to serve consumers better. There are elaborate mechanisms used to identify and authenticate a user’s identity.

Nations today use what is known as a national identifier. For example, in the U.S, people are identified using their Social Security Number. But are these identifiers really safe?

With the onset of digital transformation, our personal identities today have migrated to the digital world. Whether we’re traveling or purchasing something online, we are required to produce a digital identity that is used to authenticate our travel or purchase.

The digital identity can range anything from your national ID number, passport, bank account, credit card, or debit card information. There are three main constraints with using these digital identities.

1. These are extremely important and sensitive data that need to be handled only by the user.
2. There is no secure place to store this information online. They run the risk of being exposed to third parties, and are susceptible to hacks. Thus, they can be stolen, altered or tampered with.
3. Companies that handle this data need to be trusted to keep them safe. They may sometimes be used for purposes other than their intended use.

Is Your Online Identity Safe?

Your online identity nowadays is a username and a password associated with it.

Depending on the platform that you use, you may be required to provide additional information. For example, if it is a subscription based service like Netflix, then you’d be required to provide your credit card or debit card and other details.

If it’s a social media account, then you may be sharing your name, photo, phone number, email address, age, date of birth and other information.

If it’s a centralized & KYC’d cryptocurrency exchange, then the information collected may be your National ID, Passport, or any other relevant ID document and your bank account details.

In addition to this, if you’re browsing a video streaming service like YouTube, the data collected may be used to target you with relevant ads.

Your information is generally safe with them, until they decide to use it for their own vested interests. Facebook, for one, is accused of allegedly selling millions of people’s data to third parties for devious reasons.

What are Decentralized Identifiers?

For example, you can use your BChat ID to connect with your friends and family on BChat, without having to provide any of your personal data. All you need to access or restore your account is a 24-25 word cryptographically generated key. There are no usernames or passwords. Any data that you do share or download is encrypted and stored locally on your device.

• Making DIDs Easy to Remember

Decentralized identities are usually long and random hexadecimal characters that are difficult to memorize or recall when needed. To solve this problem, decentralized domain mapping is used. Users can map their wallet address or ID to a human readable domain such as beldexcoin.bdx.

• Benefits of DIDs
• • They are easy to remember
  • DIDs are private and secure
  • They can be mapped to your wallet
  • They can authenticate your on-chain identity
  • They can be used to maintain a record of your lendings and borrowings (decentralized credit scores)
  • They can be used to establish trust and prove your credibility (educational qualifications,  employment status, nationality, etc.)
• Benefits of BNS domains
• • BNS (.bdx) domains can be used to host an intranet domain on BelNet
  • BNS (.bdx) domains can be used to host MNApps
  • They can be used to send and receive BDX

Building Trust with Privacy and Autonomy

Your personal identity should always be private. So how do you protect your identity online?

Use a decentralized identity such as a BChat ID to communicate with your friends and family. BChat never asks for your phone number or email ID. The anonymous signup will ensure your privacy.

BNS domains on BelNet will offer a way for you to host unstoppable applications over the Beldex network. BNS names will also serve as your decentralized identifier on the Beldex ecosystem.

Beldex is currently researching the mapping of BNS domains to both your BChat ID and your Beldex wallet address so it will be possible to transfer BDX and send messages to your BNS names.