An Introduction to Privado ID, a Privacy Focused Identity Tool

Digital identification is a hot item in the world of blockchain tech and web3 gaming. And with several different developers working on their own versions of digital IDs, it can get confusing. But we're here to help! In this article we'll give you an overview of Privado ID and some useful links to learn more about this privacy focused identity tool!

Reviewby Phil HallJun 28, 2024Share

Universal digital IDs have been a concept for a long time. But making that a reality seems to be a difficult task.

We still find ourselves juggling our access across numerous sites with different login credentials and different passwords (often with different requirements), all often stored on post-it notes or in plain text files for ease of retrieval..

When you add web3 access on top of that, things get even more complicated as now you also have to deal with different wallets and browser extensions as well!

Google and Apple offer some relief from this chaos with their widely used, centralized logins. But there you are trusting your ability to login to numerous sites with a single point of potential failure. And neither has support for web3 wallets. And, you’re also trusting your data with corporate entities who are not known for keeping your information secret!

Privado ID aims to simplify this process both for developers and for the end-users while also providing credential security and privacy through the blockchain.

What is Privado ID?

Recently rebranded from Polygon ID, Privado ID is a leading provider of privacy-centric, identity management focused on putting the user in control. Privado ID provides a set of tools for creating wallets, dApps, and credentials, all of which can be linked together and accessed in a seamless manner.

Some example credentials include proof of humanity (to resist bots), proof of uniqueness, age verification, KYC credentials, and content authenticity, to allow linking content to verifiable identities.

Key Features

User-centric ID for decentralized and self-sovereign models
Zero-knowledge native protocols for ultimate user privacy
Scalable and private on-chain verification to boost decentralized apps and DeFi
Open to existing interoperable standards and ecosystem development
The core technology stack for Privado ID is free of charge under an open source license.

There are two primary facets to Privado ID. They are the digital identity open-source software and infrastructure, and their interoperable ecosystem of trust.

Digital identity open-source software and infrastructure

The digital identity software and infrastructure includes the tools available for developers to incorporate Privado ID management features into their applications. These can be built from scratch, licensed from third parties, or modified from existing examples. Or perhaps even a combination of all three!

There are tools and tutorials available for those who want to issue credentials, verify credentials, build wallets, build smart contracts, and more! Check developer docs here for more information.

Interoperable ecosystem of trust

The ecosystem of trust allows developers to issue and verify credentials in a shared ecosystem. There are already a number of credentials available for developers to make use of. From KYCs to reputations to verifying general blockchain activity, and more!

With an ecosystem of trusted, reusable credentials, Privado ID continues to build towards a shared community.

You can see some of the third party offerings at https://marketplace.privado.id/.

What does this all have to do with web3 gaming?

With their growing collection of trusted credentials, Privado ID could be a huge boon to gamers – for both players and developers. Not only will integrated IDS and logins make a smoother process for players, but developers should love the ability to easily integrate verifiable identification into their ecosystem.

Some example use cases include gamer reputation scores that carry over from one game to another, or even between platforms (bad actors beware!), verified gamer identity providing more weight to game reviews, personalized game discovery based on the user’s history, and integration of player identification into player DAOs. That’s only a few ideas. The potential for using Privado ID in web3 and blockchain gaming is limited only by the imaginations of the developers!

some of your favorite games may soon start using Privado ID

How does Privado ID benefit Users

User privacy is an important part of Privado ID. Privado ID uses zero knowledge technology to allow users to send proof of the contents of their credentials, without actually revealing the contents themselves. Zero-knowledge proofs can also be limited so that the whole credential doesn't need to be verified, just the verification of the information needed for the transaction.

For example, if a user has a credential with their name, email address, and wallet address in it, but they only need their email address for a login, then they can offer a proof of email, without needing to prove their name or wallet address.

Of course, this is all done through the interactions with the app, smart contracts, and wallet. The user doesn't need to be directly involved in the backend details of these transactions or share sensitive data.

Privado ID will help users claim their credentials through their wallet or other form of authentications, making it an easy and seamless experience. Check out a live demo of a Privado ID wallet experience at https://web-wallet-demo.internal-polygonid-prod.com/

Info for Developers

Privado ID can run on any EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) compatible chain, though at the moment, the required smart contracts are only deployed on the Polygon testnet and mainnet.

The core stack of Privado ID includes the following, open-source tools.

Privado ID Wallet SDK - create identity wallets and incorporate identity options into existing wallets
Privado ID Issuer Node - credential issuers can host their own node to control their data
Privado ID Verifier SDK - set verification criteria and construct queries for users
Privado ID JS SDK (beta) - JS libraries for apps
Schema Builder - facilitates the creation and management of credential schemas
Query Builder - user-friendly interface to create zkQuery calls

Head over to https://devs.privado.id/ to learn more about how you could implement Privado ID in your apps. They provide a number of tutorials to help you get started.

Closing Thoughts

Reusable, private digital identities will be a growing facet of the web3 ecosystem, and the digital future in general. Privacy has been an important consideration for many crypto enthusiasts throughout the years, with some feeling that the blockchain industry is headed in the wrong direction with increasing centralization and an increasing need to share your identity.

With Privado ID, users have a chance to take back some of that lost privacy and control. Privado ID has already been around for a while, slowly gaining traction. But if they can hit a critical mass of integrations and developer activity, then you might be hearing a lot more from this digital ID ecosystem in the future!

To learn more about Privado ID, visit their website and follow them on Twitter.