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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Separate online identities allow users to make hotel reservations, listen to music, pay bills and access Facebook. Whenever new information makes its way online, the user remains more vulnerable to hacker attacks and data.
Blockchain technology could solve this problem, Co-founder of Ethereum Joseph Lubin he said Sunday afternoon. In light of a series of high profile data breaches, it could become more attractive to the everyday Internet user. Mariott announced this week that a data attack has left 500 million accounts uncovered.
Facebook is fighting a problem of trust after a series of large security breaches and internal documents have shown that the company was at some point considering the sale of data.
Lubin was the first major speaker at the successful Blockland Solutions conference held this weekend at the Cleveland convention center. He co-founded Ethereum, a computing platform and a blockchain-based operating system, and then launched ConsenSys, a group of companies that use the system.
Blockchain, a technology in its early stages, is an online distributed accounting system. Although its best-known use is that of the basics of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, it can also be used to securely store information such as supply chain functions or medical data.
Lubin spoke primarily of the applications of Ethereum technology and blockchain, including online transactions.
How does blockchain protect your data?
Think about all the accounts you use online. Each time, give your details to a company and agree to an agreement with the user. In some cases, they are detailed information: Marriott Starwood accounts included passport information.
"Identity is broken," Lubin said. "Decentralization is the answer."
Lubin promoted a ConsenSys company called uPort, which he said allows people to take control of their online identity. Users enter their information into the Ethereum-based blockchain system, which is decentralized. So they use a private key to store all their information.
The example of Lubin used is that an & uPort identity can memorize if someone returns a loan or not. Thus, the user could switch to another lender and use his own uPort identity to demonstrate a good loan history by cutting off the banks. The loan process would have gone much faster and the user would have maintained exclusive access to all information.
This would essentially allow anyone to create an identity that would selectively allow companies to access information without giving it away.
uPort is not yet widely adopted. The Swiss Federal Railways have recently started using uPort for worker credentials. Zug, in Switzerland – where Ethereum is located – is using it for a bike sharing program.
Microsoft and Accenture are prototyping a similar product. Competition is not just about the Ethereum system; the developers are working on identity tools also on block-based platforms based on Hyperledger and Bitcoin, Coindesk's report.
Although the technology is not fully developed and there is not yet a standard, Lubin said that finding a new safe way to manage data is "absolutely necessary".
"Service providers are asking for as much information as they can get," he said. "How many data breaches … do we need to experiment before changing the way our identity and data are managed?"
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