Sovrin Foundation Launches First Dedicated Self-Sovereign Identity Network
Sep 29, 2016, 02:00 ET
LONDON, Sept. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Evernym, Inc. announced today at the Ctrl-Shift Personal Information Economy conference that it has donated the intellectual property for the Sovrin Identity Network—the world's first and only dedicated self-sovereign identity platform—to a newly-formed nonprofit organization. The Sovrin Foundation, which is run by a group of internationally recognized identity experts, has a mission to empower everyone with a digital identity which they fully own and control.
"Imagine a world where fraud is reduced, logins are simpler and more secure, governments can slash red tape, and healthcare practitioners can provide care with patients' immediate consent," said Dr. Phillip Windley, Sovrin Foundation's inaugural Chair. "Beyond these applications, the potential is limitless when global impact is considered. Developing nations will finally have an identity solution to underpin birth registration, land ownership, vaccination and refugee tracking."
The underlying problem Sovrin solves is that the Internet was designed to identify machines, but has no standard way to identify people. This new platform utilizes distributed ledger technology, a close cousin to Bitcoin's underlying blockchain, but specifically tailored to identity. Sovrin imparts not only full control to the user over their identity, but absolute sovereignty: no one can read it, use it, change it, or turn it off without the user's explicit consent.
When identity is "self-sovereign", it becomes a hub for many types of interactions like secure messaging, data sharing, and the management of consent. These capabilities enable businesses to transition from being identity providers—typically a cost center—to being identity consumers, and putting users in control leads to higher customer satisfaction.
"Governments and private industry waste hundreds of billions a year on inefficient and inaccurate identity proofing measures, which rarely if ever put the consumer first," Timothy Ruff, Evernym's CEO, said. "We recognized that a completely new platform was needed to enable universal digital identity, and for it to be trusted it needs to belong to the world and not to us."
To learn more visit http://www.sovrin.org.
About The Sovrin Foundation
Founded in September 2016, the Sovrin Foundation is a private-sector, international non-profit body for coordinating the global, stable operation of the Sovrin Identity Network. Supported by a Board of Trustees, Technical Governance Board, Executive Director and Staff, the Sovrin Foundation is the first of its kind. Sovrin's partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, and civic organizations, along with developers, volunteers, health providers, donors, and more. For more information about Sovrin, visit http://www.sovrin.org or follow us on Twitter: @SovrinID and #Sovrin.
SOURCE The Sovrin Foundation