- Internet Computer Protocol unveils new Internet Identity solution dubbed Verified Credentials
Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) has introduced Verified Credentials (VCs), a walletless identity solution designed to increase trust and reduce fraud in online public discourse.
The feature was unveiled at the Digital Identity unConference Europe (DICE) 2024 in Zurich, Switzerland.
What are Verified Credentials?
Verified Credentials are part of the Internet Computer’s broader digital identity toolkit and aim to address privacy concerns and the spread of fake credentials. Rather than relying on traditional Web3 wallets as the primary identity mechanism, VCs offer a walletless approach that simplifies authentication while preserving user privacy.
According to the Internet Computer team, VCs include an application intended to reduce manipulation of public conversation on social platforms by making it harder for bots and fake accounts to operate. The timing is notable: the release comes ahead of a series of national elections in 2024 that could involve nearly half the world’s population.
Jan Camenisch, chief technology officer at the DFINITY Foundation, emphasized the practical simplicity of the approach: “The new Verifiable Credentials feature of Internet Identity addresses long standing problems for online privacy-preserving authentication: all a user needs is a computing device that has a passkey (all recent ones do) and a browser.”
Proof of Unique Humanity (PoUH)
Verified Credentials are compatible with decentralized applications on the Internet Computer as well as with traditional online systems. Services can integrate with Internet Identity and request authentication through VCs, which can confirm attributes such as age or the fact that a user represents a unique human being.
VCs serve as digital attestations of attributes like qualifications, achievements, or personal characteristics. Users can share these attestations online while maintaining privacy protections built into the system.
The first application of Verified Credentials within the ICP ecosystem is called Proof of Unique Humanity (PoUH). PoUH is designed to link a user’s credentials to biometric proofs that demonstrate uniqueness and one-to-one association with an account on a platform. By ensuring a biometric proof is tied to a single account, PoUH helps platforms combat bot networks and fake profiles.
PoUH integrates with OpenChat, a decentralized on-chain messaging application developed by Decide AI, enabling social platforms on the Internet Computer to verify the uniqueness of users while preserving privacy.
Digital ID and AI
The Internet Computer’s announcement follows other recent moves in the privacy-focused digital identity space. For example, Privado ID recently separated from Polygon Labs to concentrate on digital identity products, reflecting growing industry attention to secure identity solutions.
On-chain identity projects like Verified Credentials and related efforts seek to reduce identity theft and fraud. Research has shown identity-related crime affects tens of millions of adults; one study found more than 40 million U.S. adults were impacted in 2022.
The proliferation of artificial intelligence and deepfakes has further complicated identity verification and fraud prevention, increasing the need for robust, privacy-preserving digital identity systems that can scale across both decentralized and traditional platforms.