Buenos Aires, Aregtina, October 22nd, 2024,
Chainwire
- QuarkID, powered by ZKsync, marks world's first
government-enabled decentralized digital identity
- ZKsync-powered QuarkID becomes first decentralized ID enabled
by a government entity
Today, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires announces 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.
Starting October 1, 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.
Empowering Citizens with Ownership and
Control
In a world where governments and institutions traditionally own
and manage citizens' data, Buenos Aires is turning the model upside
down by giving citizens direct ownership of their personal
information. Through QuarkID, individuals can now access, store,
and share their verified credentials — like birth certificates or
tax documents — securely and independently.
This self-sovereign identity approach gives citizens control
over their personal data. Rather than relying on physical documents
that expose unnecessary information, such as a full name or address
when proving one's age, residents can now verify their credentials
peer-to-peer through their mobile devices. This guarantees that no
third party, including the government, can track when, how, or why
a credential is being used.
Jorge Macri, Chief of Government of the City of
Buenos Aires, commented on the news: "The incorporation of
zero-knowledge blockchain technology into the City's digital
identity system is an unprecedented milestone that positions us
globally and once again demonstrates that the City of Buenos Aires
is at the forefront of innovation. Adopting new technologies that
simplify citizens' processes and grant them full control over their
information is a fundamental step to continue offering more secure
and transparent digital solutions.”
The Benefits of Decentralized Identity
At the core of this initiative are QuarkID’s open-source digital
trust framework powered by ZKsync’s zero-knowledge proof
blockchain technology, which brings a new level of
security, privacy, and
transparency to how personal data is managed:
- Privacy and Zero-Knowledge Proofs: With
QuarkID powered by ZKsync Era, citizens can verify the accuracy of
their credentials without ever exposing their personal data.
Through zero-knowledge proofs, only the necessary information is
revealed — for instance, confirming an individual’s age without
disclosing their full birthdate, address, or document number. This
ensures maximum privacy while maintaining verifiable accuracy.
- Ownership and Control: Citizens now have full
custody over their digital credentials, stored securely on their
mobile devices and protected by biometric encryption. They are no
longer reliant on centralized systems that retain and manage their
data on their behalf, significantly reducing the risks of data
breaches and identity theft.
- Security and Immutability: ZKsync’s
decentralized architecture adds an additional layer of security.
Proof of citizen's personal credentials are settled on chain ,
making them far less vulnerable to cyberattacks.The verification of
these credentials occurs through a secure peer-to-peer system, with
zero-knowledge proofs ensuring that no personally identifiable
information (PII) is ever exposed.
- Open Source and Scalable: QuarkID’s
architecture is open-source and has been recognized as a Digital Public Good (DPG)
working towards achieving the SDGs set by the United Nations. By
making it accessible to cities, governments, and private
enterprises across Latin America and beyond. This framework is
designed to scale, encouraging banks, sports teams, artists, and
businesses to adopt QuarkID and offer secure login solutions for
citizens with endless possibilities such as providing exclusive
benefits, including loyalty programs or discounts for verified
users.
“We’ve seen a lot of blockchain-based innovation in
financial services, but this initiative demonstrates the power of
blockchain to revolutionize other uses cases such as government
services by empowering citizens to safely and securely own their
data,” said Diego Fernandez, Secretary of Innovation and
Digital Transformation of the City of Buenos Aires. “By
giving residents control over their identities, we’re not only
improving privacy and security, but we’re also setting the
foundation for a future where personal data ownership is a basic
right, protected by advanced zero-knowledge-based cryptographic
proofs.”
QuarkID: Present and Future
Since the initial announcement of QuarkID in September 2023,
Buenos Aires has worked closely with partners such as
Extrimian to transition miBA’s centralized system
to a decentralized one. QuarkID allows residents to view, download,
and share documents while also serving as the login portal for all
government systems to schedule appointments, carry out procedures,
or submit requests. Citizens can now access any of the City’s
systems (previously miBA login) by simply scanning a QR code—no
password required.
With the integration of QuarkID, miBA users will have access to
over 60 digital documents and certificates, including but not
limited to:
- Birth, marriage, and death certificates
- Student certificates
- Vaccination certificates
- Gross income tax certificates
- Citizen credentials
In the coming months, additional documents, such as
driver’s licenses, public space
permits, and high school diplomas, will
be added. This innovation will also allow users to add credentials
from other organizations that adopt the QuarkID protocol, enhancing
the platform’s versatility and usability.
In addition to its use in Buenos Aires, QuarkID has successfully
conducted pilot programs in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, and is
slated for future adoption in other Argentine provinces, including
Salta.
Diego Fernández, Secretary of Innovation and
Digital Transformation from the Buenos Aires City Government
commented: "When we developed the open-source protocol
QuarkID, one of our main goals was for the Government of the City
of Buenos Aires to be not its owner but another user, allowing over
3 million citizens to have their official documents in their miBA
wallet, secured by the ZKsync Era blockchain. Today, this is a
reality, and we are very proud that this development positions us
as pioneers in the region and the world”.
QuarkID: Open-Source Collaboration for Secure Digital
Identity
As an open-source Digital Public Good, QuarkID invites
developers, enterprises, and institutions to contribute to its
continued growth. The framework offers a secure, decentralized
infrastructure that can be adapted for secure logins, identity
verification, and even loyalty programs across various
industries.
- Developers: Contribute to QuarkID’s core
protocol to help expand secure login capabilities for citizens.
Learn more and get involved through the open-source codebase at
[GitHub link].
- Private Enterprises: Banks, sports teams, and
businesses are encouraged to enable secure logins and offer
exclusive benefits to verified citizens, helping build a more
secure and engaging ecosystem for everyone.
About miBA
miBA is the digital platform for accessing
services and documents issued by the Government of Buenos Aires.
Used by more than 3.6 million residents, miBA
offers secure access to government services, document viewing, and
management, all from a mobile app. Now, with the integration of
QuarkID technology, miBA is taking a major step toward
self-sovereign digital identity, giving citizens
more control and security over their personal data.
About QuarkID
QuarkID is a digital protocol that implements a new trust
framework for creating and managing digital identities and all
their credentials in a decentralized manner, using asymmetric
cryptography and the immutability of the blockchain to establish
trust in a digital world. It is open-source and based on
international standards such as those from W3C, Trust Over IP, and
Decentralized Identity Foundation. It is designed to be
interoperable with other protocols created around the world.
About Extrimian
Extrimian is a leading company in Latin America specializing in
digital identity solutions on the blockchain. Its mission is to
empower individuals and organizations through decentralized
technologies that allow full control over digital identity and
personal data.
About ZKsync
ZKsync leverages cutting-edge zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to
create secure, scalable, and interoperable blockchain solutions.
Through its ZK Stack framework, ZKsync enables developers,
enterprises, and financial institutions to deploy customizable ZK
Chains, forming the Elastic Chain ecosystem. This innovative
network offers native, trustless interoperability, enhanced
privacy, and unparalleled scalability while maintaining Ethereum's
security. ZKsync's mission is to bring crypto to the mainstream,
empowering millions of developers and billions of users with
digital self-ownership and personal freedom. To learn more, users
can visit zksync.io.
Contact
Henri
Vies
mgroup@matterlabs.dev