Tech
Cryptographic cards, wallets and phones support biometric privacy
Some new announcements from the cryptocurrency world this week help illustrate the growing role of biometrics in this still-emerging sector of FinTech.
For example, Hong Kong-based COCA announced the launch of physical debit cards which are designed to bridge cryptocurrency with everyday financial services activities, building on COCA’s previously launched virtual debit cards and digital wallet solution. Importantly, COCA’s physical debit cards utilize what COCA calls “anonymous biometrics” and Multi-Party Computation (MPC).
MPC ensures that sensitive information, such as private keys, is securely distributed among multiple parties, preventing any single entity from having full access and reducing the risk of theft. Combined with biometric data that is not linked to biographical information, it could provide a secure and private way to handle cryptocurrency transactions with a physical debit card.
COCA also says its system uses an “anonymous biometric backup” system for account recovery that uses facial recognition “to protect the user’s identity.”
Meanwhile, Spain-based Privado ID has announced a new “Private ID Web Wallet” that uses biometrics for “Proof-of-Uniqueness claims” using a device camera. The company is pitching its digital wallet to third parties for use in their projects, and has already seen it integrated into a blockchain platform called Linea, which is using it in a “Proof of Humanity” system.
And then there is the Smartphone “Up Mobile” from Up Network, which is billed as the world’s first AI- and blockchain-powered smartphone. Specifically, it was developed on the Move programming language, which is designed to write secure and flexible smart contracts. Move was developed by Facebook (now Meta) for its Libra (now Diem) blockchain project, although it has since found broader applications in other blockchain platforms.
Movement Labs, which is dedicated to the Move programming language, provides the blockchain technology that powers the Up Mobile phone. As for biometrics, Up Network explained in a press release that “AI algorithms are used to process and create unique digital identifiers using facial recognition and fingerprint data, ensuring that each user can only register once.”
As in other cryptographic projects, biometric technology is used to ensure privacy. Up Network describes it as “zero-knowledge proof” technology through which “identity is proven without revealing any biometric data.”
These projects, together with the very high profile ones Worldcoin Projectwhich takes a similar approach to biometric pseudonymity in its digital identification platform, is advocating for biometric privacy in Web3.
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July 11, 2024 – by Alex Perala