The pilot will use distributed ledger technologies, like blockchain, to provide residents with secure, “self-sovereign” digital identity solutions. “Self-sovereign identity refers to a digital identity that remains entirely under the individual’s control,” according to an Evernym statement.
Under the proposed framework, government agencies will cryptographically sign identity attributes such as legal name, date of birth and blood type based on verified birth registration information, like birth certificates. These attributes will comprise “verifiable claims,” which are stored in a sealed distributed ledger protocol.
The attributes are only accessible with consent of the identity holder or his or her legal guardian. Businesses and governments can then authenticate citizens by requesting encrypted access to their claims, rather than relying on citizens to maintain their own identity information.
More articles on health IT:
NQF moves beyond EHR data exchange to measure interoperability
Lovelace Health System goes live on systemwide Epic EMR
Cerner establishes advisory group on veterans healthcare
