Civil registry
Parent: Digital Identity & Credentials
Description
Official record of births, deaths, citizenship.
Summary
Source of truth for legal identity.
Challenges
Civil registries are often legacy, paper-based or in closed systems with limited APIs; modernisation is costly and politically sensitive. Single points of failure create availability and security risks. Inter-country verification (e.g. for migration or marriage) is cumbersome and often manual.
Opportunities
Tamper-evident registries and attestations can anchor issuance and updates so that other countries or agencies can verify records without full data sharing. Merkle proofs and selective disclosure support privacy while enabling verification. Neutral infrastructure can reduce vendor lock-in.
Proof of concepts
- (2024)· Ethereum
EU-wide initiative for verifiable credentials and public services.
- (2023)· Ethereum
Open attestation registry for credentials and claims.
- (2023)· Various
Standards-based verifiable credentials in government and private sector.