Unique Human Users

Without the Proof-of-Human-Identity (PoH) mechanism, Humanity Protocol functions just like a generic permission-less, EVM-compatible Layer-2 blockchain. As such, anyone (be it human, machine or alien) can in principle create a wallet on the network, identified only by the anonymous wallet address.

Thankfully, with the PoH mechanism, human beings — once verified to be unique on the HP network — can use their wallet address as digital identifiers (DID) and can hold verifiable credentials (VC) in their wallets that attest to them satisfying an increasingly broad set of arbitrary claims as HP develops and matures. For example:

• Phase 1: VC attests to the fact that VC owners are unique human beings on the HP network

• Phase 2: VC will become much more flexible, attesting to conditions such as:

  • Real-life identity

  • Education and employment history

  • Geographical location

  • Age, etc

Based on the HP self-sovereign identity (SSI) model, unique human users have full control and access to their VCs, and can choose to share their information directly (e.g. VC on age + VC on location) or indirectly via customized zero-knowledge proofs/verifiable presentation “VP” (e.g. VP on whether the user is above 18 years old and located in the EU) to third parties.

💡 What are verifiable credentials (VC)?:

A verifiable credential is a digital claim related to the subject of the credential — in our context, this is the unique human user. The type of claims included in VCs can be very broad, but generally include the following:

• Information related to the status of the VC holder (e.g. human, institution)

• Information related to the identity of the VC holder (e.g. name, photo)

• Information related to the issuer of the VC (e.g. HP protocol, government, KYC provider)

• Information related to the type of VC (e.g. education history, driver’s license)

• Information related to specific attributes or properties being asserted by the issuer about the user (e.g. nationality, the classes of vehicle entitled to drive)

• Evidence related to how the VCs were derived (e.g. digital signatures and methods)

• Information related to constraints on the VC (e.g. expiration date, scope)

Compared to their physical counterparts, VCs are more convenient and tamper-resistant because they are cryptographically secured with digital signatures. Once issued, they can also be independently verified via cryptographic proofs, making them ideal for use in the SSI model.

An Example of VC: