Encrypted messaging app Telegram has announced that it’s launching a service to store your government ID – enabling you to verify third-party accounts using your Telegram account. Users simply upload a photo of their ID using the end-to-end encrypted platform and the ID card will then be tied to your account. To save time and hassle when users are signing up to third-party apps that require ID verification – such as gambling sites and ICOs – users simply authorize the app or ICO to view the ID. This saves email times and the risk of ID information being stolen in the verification process.
A Boost for ICOs and Financial Applications
Telegram Passport will provide the crypto and financial industry with a huge boost, especially for security conscious individuals. Where KYC processes are required, Telegram passport can reduce time taken to complete these checks – and in the near future – simply logging in with Telegram will be enough to complete the entire KYC process. Telegram Passport aims to revolutionize the way data is shared between providers in a secure and encrypted manner.
Trust Issues Still Lingering
Many people still have trust issues with cloud-based storage services following several major hacks and leaks. In recent times, celebrities iCloud accounts were hacked and their intimate photos were leaked across the internet. This event shook the cloud storage world and has created deep pits of mistrust. Users could be slow to adopt the new Telegram Passport service for these same reasons. For now, Telegram will store all data on an encrypted server that even it doesn’t have access too. However, centralized servers still suffer from the same weaknesses they always have – hackers and service outages.
Moving Towards Decentralized Cloud
Telegram has mentioned that it’s currently exploring decentralized cloud solutions – such as blockchain technology – to help prevent service outages, as well as data leaks from hackers and rogue employees. It could be some time before Telegram finally implements a decentralized cloud solution, so until then your ID will be stored on a centralized server in their office.
Telegram Has a Secure History
In the past, Telegram has fought off a range of hackers and kept its instant messaging platform secure. Hackers from the likes of Russia and Iran have tried to decrypt the platforms messaging service, but both failed miserably. Given the number of hacks occurring in the crypto world, its secure history could provide some comfort to users.
Telegram Passport provides users with a secure and simplistic way to complete lengthy KYC processes. Given that the ICO world now requires these processes, Telegram Passport could become a very useful service that sees mass adoption. Once it becomes more decentralized, more crypto fanatics will begin to sing its praises.
