Deloitte, the giant service provider company, has partnered with Israeli zero-knowledge proof experts QEDIT to develop a platform that allows users to share their certifications and qualifications.
Eduscrypt, the Deloitte’s platform will have the capability of sharing and validating qualifications using a private permissioned version of Etherium. The system, however, encountered a problem with data protection laws. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), European-based rules were the biggest hindrance to this platform. Therefore, new ways had to be invented to circumnavigate this problem.
The idea behind blockchain education credential verifications
Blockchain education credential verifications are expected to become an industrial standard in EdTech. This method allows users to share their certifications and qualifications without actually sharing specific information on the raw data of certificates.
Verification of certificates and qualifications earned has always been a challenge, especially online qualifications, and certifications. Take online courses, for instance, you will notice that once the certificate is earned, it becomes very hard to prove its legitimacy. This, in turn, causes most employers to shun online qualifications during their recruitment processes.
One of the best strategy to go around this was not using blockchain to store data. There are only proofs and verifiers in this system where one party is the prover and the other will act as the verifier of the information. This means that the prover will need to prove that he has knowledge know-how of the skills to the verifier, therefore, no data is shared. This method is called zero-knowledge proof technology.
Jonathan Rouach, co-founder and CEO at QEDIT, when asked about this technology, said,
You can have a person prove their credentials and reveal them to the right people and fully retain control of who gets to learn what, and still have that in a notarised blockchain with all the security that it provides.
This technology is moving fast and is projected to be an industry standard for blockchain education-credentials in the future. If this happens, it will mean that your data and information will be highly protected under GDPR and still be able to prove your certifications and qualifications.
There is also the factor of employers finally coming around and accepting online qualifications for hiring. This will be a move in the right direction should that happen.
