The pandemic disrupted businesses and even how people live their daily lives. It created a new normal where in the world is more aware of the advantages of going digital during and after the pandemic. However, the shift from traditional to digital caused problems in logistics and verifications. The volume of transactions and delivers is more than the current manpower; hence, digital identities come into the equation to fill in.
Actually, in the United Kingdom, millions of adults already tried using digital identity authentication or verification for the first time during these difficult times. According to a recently released research by Nomidio, the use of digital services has increased by 84 percent based on respondent answers. Reaching 84 percent is no ordinary feat. It means that these people, the respondents of Nimidio’s State of Identity 2020 Analysis, already experienced what it feels like to use digital services.
One can argue that pushing for digital services means that people will not have control over data. The survey even presented results announcing 77 percent of first-time users are still overwhelmed and afraid because they feel they do not have control over their personal data. But that is not the case for digital identities. One of the main purposes of integrating blockchain is for people to have control over their data. No matter what the industry is, people will have access and control over the data they have because it is theirs in the first place.
“These results are in effect a double-edged sword. We are likely to see significant shifts in consumer behaviour as a result of the pandemic, and the shift towards digital identity will be to the long-term advantage of business,” Nomidio Commercial Director Philip Black commented. “At the same time, companies with poor identity practices will be exposed, and increasingly suffer both financial and reputational damage.”
Digital identities help in giving people access and power over their personal information. It presents a more secure, robust, and dynamic way to keep the information up to date despite having one or multiple writers. An example is that a job applicant may state on his blockchain-powered resume that they graduated from Harvard. However, Harvard’s system doesn’t recognize them as a student, which will automatically not accept the update. The job application will not be able to place Harvard in their credential because they did not graduate in that school in the first place. As long as backed with blockchain and smart contracts, information placed on a person’s digital identity account will be quickly verified; hence, only authentic information will be acknowledged and saved.
