Interview | Li Jun, Ontology

I saw you recently announced that ONT ID has more than 1.5 million users, can you tell me more about this?

This month we announced that ONT ID, Ontology’s mobile digital identity application which allows users to securely manage their digital identity, had surpassed 1.5 million users. Interestingly the application’s user base is predominantly based in Asia (50%), reflecting a strong appetite for decentralized digital identity applications there, followed by the United States (7%).

This milestone achievement demonstrates that people are moving towards decentralized solutions to manage their online data, particularly against the backdrop of ongoing data breaches and hacks. Decentralized identity solutions that are built on blockchain provide more secure and reliable protection than traditional centralized systems, which no longer have the ability to keep user data safe.

Why do you think more people are investing in decentralized digital identity?

A recent study on cybersecurity statistics revealed that data breaches exposed 36 billion records in the first half of 2020 alone. This is a shocking figure that clearly demonstrates how centralized systems have repeatedly failed to keep online data secure. People are waking up to this fact and are looking for ways to secure their sensitive information and ensure that as the world moves ever more online, the exchange of personal information can take place without the risk that information might be exposed. As such, many more people are turning to applications like ONT ID that use blockchain solutions to protect their digital identities.

What services does ONT ID provide for users? How can they sign up?

ONT ID provides users with a safe, secure way to safeguard their data. It uses blockchain and cryptographic technology to connect people, data, and services in a decentralized way and allows users to take charge of their digital identity by giving them control of how and when their information is shared, and with whom. We recently made some changes to ONT ID to facilitate our ever expanding user base. This upgrade will not only improve user experience, but will also enable developers to build applications and real world solutions using ONT ID. Our new upgrade means businesses don’t need to discard their existing systems in order to safeguard their customers' data. Ontology’s decentralized identity and data protocol is a complementary layer that integrates seamlessly with existing systems. ONT ID’s software development kits (SDK) can be integrated in minutes. Some of the features ONT ID now provides for users include: Ont Login, a new feature that makes trustless universal authentication for websites and applications possible, allowing users to log into multiple platforms without having to remember passwords; ONT TAG, a new decentralized solution for online identity verification, which helps applications access users’ verified credentials, such as KYC verification, whilst also protecting privacy; and OScore, a DeFi credit scoring mechanism, which calculates an individual’s creditworthiness using different pieces of on-chain transaction data.

We saw that some significant companies have invested in ONT ID. Can you tell us about some of the use cases they have created?

Over the past three years, we have partnered with a number of industry leaders across a variety of different sectors. Mercedes Benz-manufacturer Daimler Mobility partnered with Ontology to develop ‘Welcome Home’, an in-car personalization and management solution that uses ONT ID to store drivers’ in-car preferences. Most recently, Ontology partnered with ROCKI, a next-generation music streaming service and NFT platform built on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) which will use its decentralized identity solutions to prevent bad actors from impersonating artists and help buyers avoid purchasing inauthentic NFTs. As well as this, our partnership with global freelancing marketplace leader Microworks enabling workers and employers to use their ONTO digital wallets to receive and send crypto payments.