Buenos Aires residents will have access to digital IDs and a range of other documents to be stored on the zkSync Era blockchain network. The initiative will go live in October 2023.
In a few days, over 15 million residents of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, will have access to an independent wallet called QuarkID, which will provide access to digital versions of birth and marriage certificates. This was revealed in a press release issued jointly by the city’s government and the zkSync Era project community.
In November, documents confirming income and education level will become available in the wallet. In the future, health data and payment management features will also be integrated into QuarkID. The project is a pilot and will be extended to the whole country in the future, the relevant roadmap should be submitted by the end of 2023.
The project’s technical partner is Web3 Extrimian, a company in charge of developing the QuarkID digital identification protocol. The technologies used in the project are powered by zkSync Era, Ethereum’s Layer 2 solution, which utilizes zero-knowledge proof technology. The use of zKP technologies will maintain a high level of privacy of personal data hosted on the blockchain network.
In addition, the data stored on the blockchain will be fully manageable, so that users can decide which documents they want to provide when interacting with government organizations, businesses, and individuals.
The zkSync Era blockchain network will act as the settlement layer for QuarkID, ensuring that every citizen has the correct credentials. Moreover, QuarkID has been designed with international standards such as W3C, Trust Over IP, and Sovrin Foundation and is compatible with other Web3 identity protocols.
One of the factors that pushed the Argentine government to realize this initiative was the popularity of the Worldcoin digital identity project. The launch of the project was accompanied by lots of criticism over privacy concerns about the collection, storage, and use of user data.
