South Korean City Opens Public Services to Blockchain-Based ID App

[Oxumare]

South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan, will let its citizens access government services using a blockchain-based identification app developed by Coinplug.

Busan, the second-largest city in South Korea, has launched an identification app that uses a public blockchain to verify citizen information.

The app was developed by Coinplug, a Korean startup working within the regulatory sandbox of the Busan Blockchain Regulation-Free Zone. The developer used the Metadium blockchain and its Decentralized Identifier technology to power the app.

Through this system, user data is stored on their devices, and only a cryptographic proof of the information is submitted to the blockchain. This strikes a balance between personal data privacy and the need to create tamper-proof records. Normally, the latter can only be achieved through centralized servers holding all the data.

The app will let citizens access a wide variety of “non-face-to-face” government services, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic became a much higher priority. Current use cases include the ability to use the Busan Citizen ID and other types of government-issued smart cards. The app also features a crypto wallet, which follows Coinplug’s efforts to integrate crypto payments in South Korea’s post offices.

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