Blockchain & Decentralised

Identity (trust framework)

David Pollington, Head of Service

Access Technology

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.Identity – Mobile Connect2

Blockchain – a recap

A distributed and decentralised ledger (a linked transaction database)

The transaction blocks are cryptographically protected for immutability

A protocol for the distributed ledger management – ensuring only valid transactions are added and are immutable

Block 306

Block 307

Block 308

Blockchain

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Types of Blockchain… drawing parallels with network types

Identity – Mobile Connect

Permissionless Permissioned

Public

Private

Internet

Intranet

Extranet

Home network

Trend

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.Identity – Mobile Connect4

Example use case: application of Blockchain

to Mobile Connect SP Onboarding

Mobile Connect SP Onboarding Blockchain

Service

ProviderDeveloper Portal

MNO ID GW MNO ID GW

Onboard App Generate App Credentials

Promote Encrypted (Credentials, SP Metadata)

Get, Decrypt

(Credentials,

Metadata)

Get, Decrypt

(Credentials,

Metadata)

Permissioned

Private

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.

Key challenges that digital identity

faces:

1. Establishing trust in a trustless

digital world

2. Decentralisation: control and

ownership of the identity

attributes (self-sovereign

identity)

3. Immutability of the operations

related to the digital identity

=> Blockchain/Distributed Ledger

Technologies well placed to

address these requirements

Identity – Mobile Connect5

Application of Blockchain to Identity?

Source: Peter Steiner's cartoon, as published in The

New Yorker

• Note though that personal

information is NOT stored

on the Blockchain (not

even in hashed form)

• => the value that

Blockchain provides is in

ensuring authenticity and

privacy:

• Data integrity proofs

• Provenance

• Blinding

• Zero-knowledge proofs

• Resiliency

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.6

Why do it? => establishment of trust frameworks

unlocks the digital economy

Identity – Mobile Connect

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.7

Why do it? => trust eroding in existing online identity players

Identity – Mobile Connect

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.

• GDPR and public sentiment

over the increasing number

of data breaches driving

popularity in the concept of

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)

• => user takes

responsibility and

ownership of their identity

and uses a range of 3rd

party issuers to vouch for

the user's claims

Identity – Mobile Connect8

Why do it? => move to a decentralised approach (SSI)

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.

• Uses a distributed

ledger for managing

decentralised identifiers

(DIDs) and ensuring

authenticity of the

parties interacting via

the framework and the

information (claims)

that are exchanged

Identity – Mobile Connect9

Introducing Sovrin (DLT-based trust framework)

verification verificationverification

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• Open standards approach (W3C, DIF) and

gaining significant momentum through support

from the likes of IBM and DT

• …but many issues still remain around usability,

commercialisation and faith in the technology

Identity – Mobile Connect10

Introducing Sovrin (DLT-based trust framework)

Copyright © 2018 GSMA. The Mobile Connect logo is a trade mark registered and owned by the GSMA.11

Unlikely that there’ll be just one global trust framework for identity…

Identity – Mobile Connect

National Global Sector

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Key role for Mobile Connect: Humanising Blockchain

Authenticate

Consent

Blockchain

Uses MSISDN Uses Keys, Digital Signature

Blockchain

helps to create

a “connected”

secure identity

Mobile Connect helps to

“connect” the user to the

Blockchain in a secure and

convenient way

Private Key

Public Key

…and MNOs acting as issuer/verifiers of claims (attributes)