This week we had an enlightening conversation with Adam Stallard of BrightID about reforming identity verification using a social identity network that allows you to prove that you’re only using one account.
A Stamp of Uniqueness
A few years ago, Adam Stallard asked himself, what is the future I want to see? “I was going through something like a midlife crisis and decided that that before I die, I have to try to do something good for the world.” He realized that a lot of the things he wanted to see happen on a global scale required a way to uniquely identify yourself. “The internet is broken,” he lamented; “there are data leaks, you have to give your social security number, and we are sharing way more data than we need to.” He described how most products online just need to know that you are a real person—they do not actually need all the information we give them.
Adam is attempting to solve this problem with BrightID. BrightID aims to be a stamp of uniqueness/authenticity that you can manage yourself and use with various applications. Adam and his team have developed a way in which individuals can become verified by helping verify one another—BrightID uses your existing relationships and connections to digitally confirm your identity and give you a stamp of uniqueness—all without sharing your personal information. On the organizational side, Adam explained that there are some really well-intentioned projects out there that have had to shut down due to an inability to verify that a user is just a single human being. Speaking to the urgency of finding a verification solution, he said, “We need to do this in a way that is natural and doesn’t feel intrusive.” BrightID lets apps make sure their users don't have multiple accounts without asking for personal information from them.
How Does it Work?
During our interview, Adam walked us through the process of verification—and it was surprisingly easy! Here’s what you do:
Download BrightID. Available in the app store for iOS & Android.
Create a new account. Once installed, there are two options: recover an existing account or create a new one. You will want to create a new account.
(Fun fact: BrightID uses social recovery in case your devices get lost or destroyed. You list a few recovery connections in your account and simply reconnect with any two of them to get your account back on your new device. Simple and secure!)
Add a name and photo of your choice. This is the only information you have to provide. Adam described BrightID as the anti-Facebook—there is no server analyzing your personal data for advertising/other purposes. But if you want to add social media links to your profile, you have this option.
Get verified. Click on “my code,” which can toggle from individual to group use. When with other BrightID users, hold up your QR code so they can scan and verify your identity.
Don’t know anyone in the BrightID community? No sweat, you can join a connection party, hosted in 7 different languages, to help you get your basic stamp of approval.
Use your digital ID with these apps! There are a handful of awesome applications that are already using BrightID. You can find them here.
Help verify others. Once you become verified, you can grow this community by helping others get verified. There are even “BrightID Stars—” community-driven users who earn community tokens for helping run connection parties.
Adam also noted that as BrightID expands, community involvement will help unlock voting/governance power in the future!
Learn More
After downloading BrightID and checking out the different apps you can use with it, Adam suggests you join a connection party! You can also head to BrightID’s Discord page, where the BrightID bot will give you an exclusive, verified role in the BrightID server. Adam hopes to grow their user base 10x by next year – so let’s get the Panvala League community on board and verified! For more information about BrightID and where it is headed, check out their roadmap or visit their website.
Thanks Adam and the BrightID team for your work in the decentralized community, and your participation in the Panvala League!