ShareRing, a Melbourne-based blockchain firm, has been selected as the first digital identity provider to participate in the Australian government’s US$4 million verification technology trials. These trials, approved last year, aim to enforce social media restrictions for underage users.
The company will kick off a pilot program in Darwin, working with school students to test its self-sovereign identity platform. This platform allows users to securely provide age verification while maintaining control over their personal data.
The trials are scheduled to commence next week as Australia moves towards implementing new legislation that prohibits children under 16 from creating social media accounts. Platforms that fail to comply could face fines of up to US$30.7 million.
ShareRing’s use of reusable digital IDs addresses privacy concerns raised by Australians regarding the risk of identity theft from government databases. These concerns have been prevalent since the legislation was approved for trial.
According to Tim Bos, ShareRing’s founder and chief technology officer, the technology “eliminates the need for repetitive verification while ensuring instant trustless verification and a privacy-first approach.”
Unlike traditional centralized identity systems, ShareRing’s blockchain-based technology minimizes single points of failure and data breach risks by distributing control of data. This allows users to verify their age without disclosing personal documents, only sharing cryptographic proof.
Built on the Cosmos SDK, ShareRing’s technology enables the creation of custom blockchains tailored for verifying users and screening age-inappropriate content on social media platforms without compromising personal information.
Utilizing Tendermint, a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, ShareRing can efficiently process registrations and connect to other blockchain networks.
The company has obtained accreditation under the UK’s Digital Identities and Attributes Trust Framework and has joined Select ID, the UK’s Reusable Digital ID Network for financial services.
The trials in Australia are overseen by the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), an independent assessment consortium. ACCS will evaluate age verification technologies before the social media restrictions are fully implemented.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair