From ZKsync 0x733F by 0x49AA…9727, ZKsync
TL;DR
- The city of Buenos Aires has rolled out ZK-backed digital identities to all of their citizens (~3.6m).
- Leading the way in data privacy and citizen empowerment, Buenos Aires has become the first government to leverage blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography for digital identity management enabling citizens to verify their identity (and other attributes of citizenship) without having to expose any PII.
- The update to the miBA application comes with nearly 60+ documents (such as birth certificates, citizen credentials, and more) now accessible to denizens of the capital city to access their government portals, process documents, receive birth certificates and marriage licenses, and open the door to digital sovereignty for citizens.
- The government of Buenos Aires becomes the world’s first government to hand off ownership of digital credentials to residents. These credentials are emitted to an individual, and upon receiving them the government no longer has any visibility into how, where, or when these identity documents are used.
Today, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires announced the integration of QuarkID, a ZKsync-powered decentralized identity solution, into its miBA platform. This groundbreaking initiative makes Buenos Aires the first city worldwide to implement blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography for creating self-sovereign digital identities. By empowering 3.6 million residents with enhanced control over their personal data, the city sets a new standard in privacy and security for digital identity management. All governments own their citizens’ data, Buenos Aires is the first to relinquish control.
Starting in October of 2024, all active users of miBA, the city's digital platform for accessing government services and documents, received their own decentralized digital identity (DID). These DIDs are secured by QuarkID's wallet and settled on Era, a Layer 2 blockchain powered by ZKsync. This initiative positions Buenos Aires as a pioneer in transforming government services through blockchain technology, setting a new global standard for privacy-focused digital identity.
For blockchain to scale, we need to ‘hide the wires’. While infrastructure and technology are summarily important, the benefits they give to individuals are what is most important. The technology should simply be better, safer, and more private than the alternative. When you ask an average citizen if they’ve used email, nearly everyone will say yes. If you ask that same group how many of them have heard of TCP/IP, then a very small percentage will claim they have. If you ask them how it works, an even smaller number of people will be able to articulate the basics. In Web3, there is too much emphasis on the underlying technology.