Overview

pSecureKey Technologies is a leading identity and authentication provider that simplifies consumer access to online services and applications. SecureKey is a champion of the ecosystem approach to identity, revolutionizing the way consumers and organizations approach identity and attribute sharing in the digital age./p pSince its inception, SecureKey has launched two services, SecureKey Concierge and Verified.Me, that simplify consumer access to online services. SecureKey’s next generation privacy-enhancing services enable consumers to conveniently and privately assert identity information using trusted providers, such as financial institutions, telcos and governments, helping them connect to critical online services with a digital credential they already have and trust./p

Supernova Award Category

Digital Safety, Governance, Privacy, and Cybersecurity

The Problem

pToday, verifying who you are is hard. If you want to open a bank account, it requires physically showing up at a financial institution’s branch and presenting a driver’s license or other key personal documents to prove who you are – all to wait days or weeks to be verified. Interactions in person have worked in the past, but the ease of identity verification hasn’t translated over into the digital world, even though our expectations have./p pAs consumers, we’re required to prove who we are when transacting with online services, even though we’re trying to access our iown /idigital assets. SecureKey, led by Greg Wolfond, recognized a distinct shortcoming in Canada’s digital identity approach and the inherent lack of respect consumers’ data has in the digital marketplace. We live in a digital world, but we are being forced to use outdated and broken identity systems – and systems that are welcoming the possibility of fraud due to the extensive amount of unsecure data available online./p

The Solution

pWe recognized that the current system of identity verification is broken, and we had the opportunity to fix it. We needed to create a solution for both consumers and businesses that centered on ease of use, trust, security and privacy. In response, we developed Verified.Me, a digital identity platform bringing together seven of Canada’s major financial institutions to help consumers verify their identity to get things done fast online, in person and on the phone./p pWhen determining the proper technology, SecureKey evaluated many approaches to building a secure digital identity network, and many different technologies that could support the goal of putting consumers in the middle and in full control of their digital information, to use as they want to use it, when they want to use it and with whom they want to use it. After detailed research and consideration, we determined that the only suitable approach would be the distributed ledger capabilities that blockchain provides./p

The results

pVerified.Me has changed the way digital identity is managed in Canada. The blockchain behind the service effectively solves the most critical problem that we are facing today – creating a frictionless transaction experience between the user, the source of their information and the recipient of the information they consent to share with./p pWe were able to achieve a service that provides consumers with security and privacy, by blockchain technology ensuring that there is no honeypot of data that can be targeted by bad actors while maintaining privacy between the network participants. There is no new place where customer data is held – all identity attributes exist with companies that are already housing the data. In a time of widespread data breaches and hackers employing more sophisticated approaches, secure data sharing has never been more important./p pIn addition to consumers, Verified.Me provides benefits for the ecosystem members it works with. Financial institutions and telecommunications providers keep their operating costs down, governments can reduce data security costs, legal professionals can obtain consent from clients on confidential documents in a timely manner, healthcare providers can protect patient records and sharing economy organizations cut costs related to identity fraud. There are clear, never-before-seen benefits for organizations across all sectors that will continue improving the bottom line and customer experience./p

Metrics

pVerified.Me is a service offered by SecureKey Technologies Inc. The Verified.Me service was developed in cooperation with seven of Canada’s major financial institutions – BMO, CIBC, Desjardins, National Bank of Canada, RBC, Scotiabank and TD – which also operate the nodes of the services and are committed to actively promote its benefits to their clients and customers to accelerate adoption./p p As the service is brand new to Canada, we are just beginning to see consumer adoption pick up, which will continue to accelerate as we add more customers, use cases and capabilities in the months to come. Since launching on May 1, 2019, Verified.Me has been downloaded from the App Store and Google Play by over 21,000 users, with no consumer marketing campaign. We’ve seen massive adoption in just over two months and continue to see downloads each day./p

The Technology

pWhen looking at the features needed to support our strong requirements for security, privacy and trust, we determined that the distributed ledger capabilities that blockchain provides would be necessary to build an effective digital identity ecosystem. In evaluating solutions, SecureKey decided to build the ecosystem on top of the IBM Blockchain Platform which is based on Linux Foundation’s open source Hyperledger Fabric v1.2, and will be interoperable with Hyperledger Indy projects./p

Disruptive Factor

pIn the beginning stages, we were faced with the challenge of achieving alignment and adoption from all of Canada’s major financial institutions. While we were excited about the potential of blockchain right off the bat, we discovered through our discussions with organizations that other individuals were not as well versed in blockchain and distributed ledger technology as we anticipated. To combat this, education was a huge and vital piece, in which we took the time to properly educate all stakeholders including network participants, customers and general consumers./p pThe very nature of Verified.Me is disruptive; it is a first-of-its-kind digital identity network that brings together seven of Canada’s major financial institutions to strengthen identity authentication for organizations across industries. For the first time, the service puts complete control of information in the hands of Canadians, allowing them to share the information they choose with full consent and trust, from the trusted sources they choose, with the businesses they want to transact with – while at the same time ensuring full privacy and security of information./p

Shining Moment

pObtaining collaboration from several organizations can be difficult. We’re proud that through our collective vision, we were able to create a first-of-its-kind solution in Canada that brings together likeminded organizations to advocate for a network approach to digital identity. With such big voices as network participants, we can continue delivering this message to the world and build this network to become the standard in Canadian digital identity./p