Thomson Reuters receives patent for blockchain-based identity management

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There are all sorts of corporations that are interested in blockchain and cryptocurrency. It doesn’t matter whether a company is in the oil sector, a financial institution, or in the social media space—there are many applications that are obvious to those that are familiar with blockchain. One media giant has revealed that it is exploring the capability of blockchain thanks to a recent patent.

The patent application was filed by Canadian mainstream media corporation Thomson Reuters, one of the most well-known media companies in the world, in December 2015. The patent, granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, involves a blockchain-based identity system.

According to the patent, traditional identity system “presents a danger of fraud as developing technologies prove increasingly effective at counterfeiting such identities.” Thomson Reuters seeks to develop a blockchain-powered identity system that is capable of receiving validated identity data, which it will send “to at least one node of the distributed system,” and then generate an identity token.

Interestingly enough, Reuters has been interested in blockchain for a while, as the patent was filed in December 2015 and was only made available on April 2, 2019. The identity data can only be accessed by authorized parties. The patent also refers to the potential danger of the lack of security with regards to identity verification in modern times.

More companies are realizing that blockchain can do wonders with regards to identification verification. Many believed that many companies would follow Facebook’s lead as rumors began that the social media giant might begin utilizing one. However, the CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, mused publicly about the potential advantages and disadvantages of the system without implementing one (as of yet).

Thomson Reuters is not the only company interested in how blockchain can improve identity verification. PayPal, the worldwide online payments system, invested in a blockchain identity startup by the name of Cambridge Blockchain about a week ago, making it the first time the company has invested in the space. In addition, Okta, a leading identity and access management company, raised $50 million and announced its first investment in Trusted Key, an identity-focused blockchain startup.