The right to identity is a fundamental human right as defined by the United Nations Human Rights’ 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.⁷⁸ While the initial definition of identity as a human right was focused particularly on children, the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) further supported the concept, with SDG 16.9 setting the objective of “legal identity for all, including birth registration.”⁷⁹

The central importance of identity to human development and participation in society is now broadly recognized. Modern identity and access management (IAM) came into focus during the late 1930s, when a group of European countries began issuing national ID cards. During this time, creating a more systematic approach for establishing and authenticating the official use of trusted identities emerged. More recently, IAM has benefited from biometrics and the emergence of digital platforms and solutions. Digital identity is indeed becoming the default standard for most if not all forms of ID. Recent estimates suggest that over one hundred countries currently issue national ID cards of various sorts.

Of course, the universe of identity stretches far beyond government-issued, general purpose IDs assigned to individuals. Different institutions (colleges, companies, libraries, workplaces) issue their own identities, and most individuals also possess a wide array of different online identities for different services. In addition, and particularly with the proliferation of sensors and the IoT economy, objects and “things” (e.g., parts in a supply or shipping chain) now have their own identities. One of the central challenges of modern identity is its fragmentation and variation across platform and individuals. There are also issues related to interoperability between different forms of identity, and the fact that different identities confer very different privileges, rights, services or forms of access. The universe of identities is vast and manifold. Every identity in effect poses its own set of challenges and difficulties—and, of course, opportunities.

The contemporary IAM literature focuses on two central types of identity.⁸⁰ The first is foundational identity, which is usually equated with legal identity. Here, after collecting attributes, individuals are issued a unique ID that is legally recognized at the national level and can be used to access different services.⁸¹ Legal IDs are almost always issued by the state in a centralized fashion. National ID cards are perhaps the best example of a foundational identity.

The second type is called functional or transactional ID. In this case, a particular entity, public or private, issues individuals or customers a unique ID that is only valid for the specific purposes previously established by the issuing entity. Electoral identities, health or car insurance cards, and ecommerce login credentials are good examples.

As the potential of blockchain to enable social change has grown, identity – and the need for more and better trusted identifiers across contexts – has regularly been flagged as an area of particular potential impact. Blockchain, it is felt, can help address many of the challenges related to identity. This report examines if, when, and how blockchain’s attributes can unlock new value and address stubborn challenges at different stages of the identity lifecycle. In this section, we discuss in more detail why identity matters for creating social change, consider why identity is a foundational Blockchange use case, and examine the potential for blockchain to address problems at different stages of the lifecycle. In addition, we use our case study research to reflect on the maturity of experimentation at different stages of the lifecycle.