A Mobile ID Service to Debut Early Next Year
SK Telecom plans to roll out a blockchain-based mobile ID service in the first quarter of next year. The service will be the first blockchain-based service offered to general consumers by a large Korean company. A lot of attention is being paid to whether or not SK Telecom's planned service will jump-start the Korean blockchain market.
A mobile ID card will allow an individual or a corporation to finish a cumbersome procedure such as copying ID cards and signing documents at a bank and a car dealership with fingerprint recognition.
Also, a person will be able to skip a process of telling his or her credit card information or date of birth by identifying himself or herself with fingerprint authentication on a smartphone screen.
"Self-sovereignty is being strengthened around the world. Self-sovereignty means that a person independently keeps and manages his or her personal information,” said Kim Jong-seung, head of the SK Telecom’s Token X Hub Task Force (TF) team. "We are working on implementing blockchain-based digital identification technology that cannot be tampered with or illegally copied as a mobile identification card service."
In the first quarter of this year, SK Telecom will launch the mobile digital ID card as the first dApp (distribution-type application) and a digital real name system to prove various qualifications and rights. This is called a decentralized identifiers (DID) system.
"Users with SK Telecom mobile IDs will not need to create new IDs even when they want to use online and offline services of SK Telecom’s partners," Kim explained. Some experts predict that the advanced ID card service will be applicable to smart mobility (highly advanced convergent mobile service) such as the sharing of vehicles and signing rental car contracts in the future.