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What does it take to be someone, to claim your right to your own unique personal identity?
World Identity Network co-founder and CEO Dr. Mariana Dahan offers a glimpse of the immense problems linked to lack of personal identity, from the “invisible” children phenomena, to human trafficking and modern slavery. With a fascinating story of her own childhood, Dr. Dahan highlights both the importance of the issue and the thrilling potential for real, impactful change in the coming years. This TEDx Talk outlines implementable ideas about changing the future of identity systems – with powerful cryptography, the blockchain technology and other innovative approaches – and how it will impact us all as humans.
Widespread inability to prove personal identity drives human trafficking and modern slavery
Until recently, a vision for the future – where everyone on Earth has access to proof of personal identity, allowing them to claim their human rights and pursue more prosperous, free and healthy lives – was an unattainable goal. Thankfully, a combination of awareness, international will, and technology offers new hope.
Speaking at the Oslo Freedom Forum, by invitation from the Human Rights Foundation, Dr. Dahan explained how the World Identity Network and its partners approach issues like human trafficking and modern slavery, with the lack of recognized proof of identity being at the core of this global epidemic.
Individuals must control their own identity: a Self-Sovereign Identity
Advances in unique identification tools and the emergence of distributed ledger technologies are shedding light on new possibilities for fighting the worst crimes against humanity. Old identification models are not working anymore, specifically after the many high-profile security and privacy breaches, where individuals’ personally identifiable data has been exposed and misused.
As a global community, we need to build better, more secure and more human-centric ID systems. And we need to put the individuals in control of their own identity data. This is why at the World Identity Network we promote the concept of Self-Sovereign Identity.
Through its global advocacy and partnerships-building work, the World Identity Network aims to ensure that everyone can prove who they are, while maintaining control over their identity data.
Lack of Access to Identity Fuels the Global Refugee Crisis
As global migration increases, the number of refugees displaced from their homes has increased to estimates that exceed hundreds of millions. Lacking a proof of identity prevents people from accessing basic human services or taking advantage of the basic rights of a citizen. Many of these victims are children, whose vulnerable state is capitalized on by human traffickers — displaced from their homes, these children fall victim to traffickers every day.