South Korea will launch digital identity cards in 2024, Bloomberg reports. The government planned to introduce identifiers of 45 million citizens based on blockchain technology within two years, the article says.
Digital identifiers on smartphones will simplify the verification of data on the Internet, eliminate the need to photograph documents or log in using authentication codes sent by text message. This can be used for actions such as applying for government benefits, transferring money, or even voting.
Now in South Korea, cards similar to US social security cards are used for identification. According to the government's proposal, these identifiers will be embedded in mobile devices using blockchain technology.
According to the plan, the government will not have access to information stored on individual phones, including information about whose IDs are used, how and where they are used, since the system will rely entirely on decentralized technology.
According to McKinsey's analysts, the widespread use of digital identifiers will save time on administrative work, reduce wage fraud, expand consumer lending, and can facilitate trade and the creation of new markets.
Every service that could not previously fully go online — now has the opportunity to do so, said Su Bo Ram, director general of the Korean Digital Government Bureau, who is leading this project. According to him, thanks to digital identity cards, the country can receive at least 60 trillion won (about $42 billion), or 3% of GDP within a decade.
