Polygon Labs has officially launched its Polygon ID service, which has now been rebranded as Privado ID. Operating as an independent entity, this protocol-agnostic service is now able to offer its self-sovereign identity management solution beyond the Polygon network.
Privado ID serves various purposes such as verifying humanity and uniqueness, thereby thwarting Sybil attacks, facilitating airdrops and other incentives, enabling trading on decentralized exchanges, and meeting compliance requirements like proof of age or Know Your Customer. Additionally, it can be utilized in traditional finance for the transfer of securities, intellectual property, land titles, and other tokenized assets.
Users have complete control over their identities and the information they choose to disclose, allowing them to prove their age without revealing personal details like addresses or nationalities. Identity data can be restored using seed phrases since identities are stored locally in users’ wallets. Identity issuers can be either on-chain or off-chain, such as government agencies.
Privado ID is a core component of Polygon’s ZK initiative. The development of this identity solution began in March 2022 and was officially launched a year later, incorporating zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to ensure data privacy and authenticity. By preventing third parties from storing or transferring information, this technology can authenticate digital content and minimize the risk of misinformation, including AI-generated content. The potential applications of this technology range from the metaverse and gaming to non-fungible tokens.
According to a statement provided to Cointelegraph, Privado ID has successfully completed proof-of-concept trials with multinational banks and financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank and Consensys. These trials focused on technical aspects such as interoperability, compliance, and permissioned transactions.
Furthermore, Privado ID has integrated with the attestation registry of the Linea zkEVM blockchain developed by Consensys. Co-founder and COO of Privado ID, Antoni Martin, expressed confidence in the ability of Privado ID to reduce trust and mitigate risk, emphasizing its potential to support non-EVM blockchains in the future.
Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon Labs, will be serving as a growth advisor for Privado ID. Having been appointed as Polygon’s Chief Business Officer in May, Nailwal will focus on spearheading the development of new ZK solutions.
In conclusion, beyond its applications in the realm of cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs have the potential to revolutionize various sectors ranging from voting to finance.