UnPassport is the first product from the iNation team. Although the team includes members who also work with Blockchain Factory, unPassport will launch under the iNation banner.
I previously spoke with the team for CoinTelegraph, but with their technology coming together and a public beta planned for October, we sat down again to review progress and clarify how unPassport will work.
UnPassport is built to let travelers back up the key pages of their passport in a cryptographically secure, distributed way that can be accessed from anywhere. The goal is not to duplicate every entry stamp; instead the system follows common government guidelines that the first few pages are sufficient for identity backup. Importantly, unPassport uses the IPFS hypermedia protocol for distributed storage rather than storing files directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Although no official government test has yet been conducted—no one has, for example, filed a lost-passport claim and used an unPassport backup as evidence—the team believes the system will work. They are working with travel service providers and document verification companies to increase the chance that digital backups will be accepted by authorities.
The use case is straightforward: if you lose your passport while traveling, instead of relying on a paper photocopy that can also be lost, you can retrieve a cryptographically verifiable copy from any computer and demonstrate that the file is an unaltered replica of your original passport.
The public beta is scheduled to launch on October 30. That will be the real test: travelers worldwide may upload their passport copies, lose their originals, and discover whether their consulates and local authorities accept a verified digital file or a printed copy of that file.
It’s reasonable to expect some resistance from authorities, but there is no technical reason such a system should be rejected. However, it would be wrong to suggest unPassport eliminates the difficulties of losing a passport. Losing any essential travel document—especially while abroad—will always be inconvenient. For the foreseeable future, travelers who lose a passport will typically still need to visit an embassy or consulate.
A simple photocopy can help speed the process by allowing you to complete forms, but what often speeds recovery more is obtaining a certified copy from the issuing government. For U.S. travelers, a certified copy from the State Department typically eases and accelerates replacement procedures. Achieving that certified copy is an involved, old-fashioned process designed to prevent fraud: a traveler must visit a notary with government ID and then submit notarized paperwork to the State Department and pay a fee. In between a plain photocopy and a government-certified copy is a notarized photocopy, which carries some authority but not the same legal weight as a State Department certified copy.
Where unPassport will fall on that spectrum is not yet fully determined. The service will accept customers worldwide, but initial partnerships and outreach will focus on North America—starting with a few U.S. states and selected Canadian jurisdictions—before expanding further.
Anyone can use the service, and in the worst case it will be as useful as a simple photocopy. The effectiveness for any individual will depend on the policies of local governments. The unPassport team hopes authorities will appreciate that a cryptographically verifiable timestamp and hash can be harder to forge than a notary stamp. Still, government acceptance can be slow. Where partnerships are established, unPassport aims to combine cryptographic verification with traditional notarization.
Even if some officials refuse to accept the approach, a verified digital copy is still superior to carrying a single physical photocopy while traveling.
I spoke with Nathan Wosnack, co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of iNation, about progress on unPassport since our last conversation. Their CIO, Matt McKibbin, was also present.
Ian DeMartino: So, unPassport accepts uploads of a passport’s first few pages. Any limitations?
Nathan Wosnack: Different governments require different minimum pages—some require only the passport’s first page, others require two or three pages. unPassport makes the process easier by backing up and securing passport data in encrypted, distributed storage. When a user uploads a file, a cryptographic hash (a unique fingerprint) is generated and stored persistently to protect against tampered uploads.
Our trial version has upload limits: the trial allows up to three pages on a five-day trial. Paid annual plans enable more pages and additional features for individuals and families.
ID: What will a yearly plan cost?
NW: The basic annual plan is $19.95 (USD). That plan supports up to five documents and up to ten modifications to passport data per year.
ID: After users upload documents, how is the data handled?
NW: When a client uploads a document, a hash is automatically created via our vendor BlockCypher, and the related blockchain transaction can be referenced through chain.so (Block.io vendor). A file signature is also produced. The actual file is encrypted and stored in a distributed manner via IPFS, the peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol.
Because the encrypted files reside across IPFS nodes and the hash is recorded externally, the data remains retrievable even if our business no longer operates.
Matt McKibbin: We are also building relationships with expedited passport services to provide an extra layer of verification for backup authenticity.
ID: Are there restrictions on file types or other documents?
NW: We currently restrict accepted file types. Although the system technically allows uploading other documents (which are encrypted for privacy), our Terms of Service specify the service is intended for passport backups.
ID: Have you tested acceptance by government offices—walking into a DMV or consulate and requesting a replacement using an unPassport copy?
NW: Not yet. The current expectation is that if you lose your passport and have a photocopy or a digital copy stored with a provider like unPassport, replacement is generally easier. unPassport adds a verifiable layer by using blockchain and distributed storage to establish file integrity.
ID: Is this more secure than storing files with cloud providers like Apple iCloud?
NW: Our approach emphasizes both security and privacy. High-profile breaches of consumer cloud services have shown vulnerabilities. We prioritized a careful rollout because our backend infrastructure must be robust and scalable before public release. Our timeline on the iNation site targets an October 30 beta release for public testing.
We already have early testers on a test-net MVP, but we explicitly advise against uploading passport data to that test environment.
ID: If I need to retrieve my passport copy, what is the process?
NW: A client logs into the site, provides the cryptographic public key they were issued, and uses the management portal to retrieve and decrypt the file from IPFS.
ID: Do you hold users’ private keys?
NW: For now we will hold private keys in multi-signature cold storage, similar to practices used for cryptocurrency wallets.
ID: Will you offer two-factor authentication?
NW: Two-factor authentication is not in the initial MVP but will be implemented in the beta and full releases for improved security.
ID: Will users be able to hold their own private keys?
NW: We are discussing implementation options. Allowing users to control their own private keys is under consideration and would be a reasonable feature.
ID: Beyond passports, what other document storage use cases do you see for blockchain-based systems?
NW: Potential use cases include recording property deeds and title data and storing vital records like marriage certificates. In jurisdictions with shifting policy on civil records, some individuals may seek decentralized alternatives to government-managed systems. Education certificates and transcripts are another strong fit: universities and employers could verify credentials more easily and cost-effectively through a distributed ledger and IPFS rather than expensive centralized processes.
Our objective is a robust system without single points of failure, enabling users to manage critical documents indefinitely using decentralization and distributed ledger technology.
ID: Anything else coming from Blockchain Factory?
Nathan Wosnack: Blockchain Factory is pursuing contracts for our Mining Slicer software with major mining firms. The iNation team is collaborating with Equibit on a global peer-to-peer over-the-counter platform and is in talks with a supply chain company to build a blockchain-based e-marketplace and supply chain management solution.
We will soon announce iNation as a consumer-focused brand and a separate B2B brand for our enterprise work.
ID: Anything you want to add?
NW: We’re excited about the steady progress our newly formed technical team and advisors are making with private clients and at industry conferences. We look forward to sharing more updates as they become available.