Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By The Dollar Vigilante (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Blockchain Girl Janina Lowisz On The Blockchain ID & Citizenship

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


[The following interview by Justin O'Connell and Janina Lowisz]

The following interview was conducted by Bitcoinomics.Net with Janina Lowisz, the first “holder” of a “Blockchain ID,” about the Blockchain ID, world citizenship and numerous other topics relating to the BlockchainID. 

What is a BlockchainID?

The blockchain ID was invented by Chris Ellis from World Crypto Network and Bitnation founder Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof, and makes use of the Bitcoin blockchain and available cryptographic tools to provide IDs that are not issued by nation-states but privately. It is one of the pilot projects Bitnation did so far to show how governance services can be done in a private, voluntary and decentralised way. Today, the blockchainID could be used for online verification, as part of a reputation system to facilitate transactions, for voting, or it could be used by stateless people or in war zones. The blockchainID will be available on www.bitnation.co in Q1.

What makes the BlockchainID secure? 

PGP encryption and the blockchain make it a secure, decentralized system that makes it nearly impossible for people to fake your identity, unlike with emails or social network logins.

People create a PGP key and witness each other`s existence at a certain place and time, validate and prove their existence by signing each other`s IDs with their PGP key. The content of the ID is bound to the owner`s key, so he has full control and no one can change it.

The blockchainID includes the merkle root of the latest block to prove the person must have existed at least in that certain time. To prove that it was that block`s specific time, the blockchainID document gets timestamped.

It also includes the venue`s public IP address to prove where it took place.

What do you know about Estonia’s e-citizenship, and does this tie into the project?

The blockchainID is a separate project, but certainly the e-citizenship is a fascinating project, too, providing people all over the world with governance services in a voluntary way, enabling them to facilitate their business or make use services like digital identification. It is a step in the right direction and shows that the past version of the nation state is challenged in different ways, which I see as useful promotion also for other alternatives like the blockchainID. However, as the blockchain is worldwide, a blockchain based system could offer worldwide services and would not only be voluntary, too, but also decentralised, making the system more secure. The e-citizenship would still be centralised and therefore its existence is dependent on benevolent policy, whereas the blockchain cannot be stopped.

Do you feel like you’re carrying on a tradition of World Citizenship?  (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Passport)

The blockchainID is not a passport, and has nothing to do with the “World Passport”. The blockchainID is one of the decentralised applications that Bitnation, a blockchain services provider, will offer. The idea is to use the blockchain for a reputation system similar to ebay. People who use Bitnation services would get a blockchainID on which all their transactions within the Bitnation system could be recorded.

I don`t feel like carrying on any tradition, I more feel like a pioneer that now has the responsibility to promote the social good that the blockchain can do.

Some people think the BlockchainID, by doing away with the nation-state, will usher in a private dystopia run by financial lords. Is this what you want?

I tried to think about what people mean by that.

First, people will not be dependent on companies to have blockchain services available. The tools to create a blockchainID are easily available and everyone can look up in YouTube and GitHub how it`s done. Therefore, there is no need to hire someone and local communities can do it all by themselves.

Second, it will not make a difference to the blockchain whether there are governments or private societies. As it is all decentralised, a company in a stateless society can not shut down the blockchain- same as today, where a government can not shut it down either.

Third, the blockchainID enables people to decide which details they want to make public, e.g. if they want to use their full name, provide their address or not. My blockchainID includes the IP address of the hotel where the event took place. This freedom means people can not be tracked and therefore the blockchainID does not lead to a dystopia-like surveillance “state”.

Some people in comments’ sections say becoming a “world citizen” is useless unless we get invaded by aliens. Do you agree? 

The blockchainID has the uses I mentioned in the beginning, whereas the word “world citizen”, like the Bitnation slogan “blockchains, not borders”, reflects our philosophy, that people should not see themselves as dependent on what the situation in the nation-state is they happen to be born in, but make use of voluntary blockchain services that are available worldwide.

What  technologies and services brought to the world via the Blockchain excite you most?

In developing countries, the blockchain can provide infrastructure and empower local communities, so the social good may be comparable to MPesa.

In general, I think the most useful blockchain application today is the blockchain marriage: Bad behaviour would influence people`s reputation on the blockchain and most important, there is no need for a divorce, as a smart contract ends automatically if it is not renewed, so there are no negative consequences. No one needs to pay for the other one, so the blockchain marriage would mean more justice.

Anything else you’d like to add? 

Thanks for having me, you can follow my Facebook page, follow me @BlockchainGirl, Chris Ellis @MrChrisEllis and Bitnation @MyBitNation, you can visit me at the CoinScrum meetup Tuesday evenings in the Vape Lab in Shoreditch, and join the Bitnation google hangouts, Saturday mornings/afternoons at http://www.meetup.com/BITNATION/.

Justin O’Connell is the Chief Executive Officer of GoldSilverBitcoin.  He is also the author of the bitcoin book, Bitcoinomics, and administrator of the Bitcoinomics website. Justin is also a co-host at Our Very Own Special Show, a lifestyle podcast about music, news, life and other topics, and head researcher at The Dollar Vigilante.  He lives in San Diego, California.

Insights or comments? Let us know!

What makes The TDV Newsletter so valuable is its keen knowledge of macro-and-micro economics events and theories. While your parent’s economic advisors and stockbrokers adhered to the Keynesian paradigm, TDV’s monthly Dispatches and Newsletter sees the world through the episteme of Austrian Economics, something every person curious in economics, politics and culture should be familiar with. Austrian Economics understands the driving force behind liberty, slavery, economic indicators, stats and players.

Because this year is going to be a chaotic one, as foreseen by the TDV Staff, Editor-In-Chief Jeff Berwick and senior analyst Ed Bugos are dedicating themselves almost full-time to bringing paid subscribers the best information they can receive in 2015, which could prove to be an ever important year in The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI).

What’s more you will receive invaluable and private placings in some of today’s most exciting companies.

Subscribe to The Newsletter today, and receive TDV’s HomeGrown, as well as special reports, including Getting Your Gold Out Of Dodge.

If you’re interested in receiving articles beyond what you read here everyday, consider our weekly subscriber-only publications, like our Issue, Dispatches, and Homegrown. You may subscribe here.

February 16, 2015

Boy Its Easy To Scare People in the Home Of The Brave

Post by TDV Editor-In-Chief, Jeff Berwick

I had barely just recovered from panicking over SARS, swine flu, ebola, ISIS and North Korea when another super-important crisis came on the scene that demands immediate attention!  The measles!

No, I’m not kidding.  Apparently this latest mainstream media panic is how measles is everywhere and if we all don’t get immediately vaccinated we will all get the measles!  I guess, somehow, ebola morphed into the measles… what we really need is a vaccine for propaganda.

continue reading…

February 17, 2015

Profiting From The Rising Chinese Yuan

Post by TDV Director of Offshore, Paul Seymour

At TDV, we aren’t fans of holding a significant amount of your assets in fiat currencies.  However, as those holding the Swiss franc recently found out, as it rose 30% overnight, there is a time and place for everything.

One good option for such diversification is the Chinese yuan, also known as renminbi.  Since China got into the WTO in 2001, after starting to boom economically, the US government has clamored, from time to time, for the Chinese to allow the yuan to “float” in the exchange market.  Instead, and like many other governments around the world, the Chinese have opted to peg that exchange rate as a set relationship to the USD.  The Saudi Riyal for example, has had the same peg for decades, but we don’t hear anyone clamoring for the Saudis to revalue the riyal.

continue reading…

February 18, 2015

TDV Interview With Swiss Metals: How To Profit From Strategic Rare Metals And Their Coming Shortage

Interview by TDV Editor-In-Chief, Jeff Berwick

At The Dollar Vigilante (TDV) we are always looking for ingenuitive ways to keep the majority of your assets outside of the current financial and monetary system.  At numerous conferences we keep running into Knut Andersen, the President and CEO of SwissMetal Inc., and Knut and SwissMetal are also the Gold Sponsor at the Anarchapulco freedom event coming up at the end of this month.

SwissMetal is based in Panama and has a very unique and interesting way to invest in hard assets, like rare and strategic metals with a focus on asset protection of individual and industrial investors.

I had the opportunity to speak with Knut this week to get some insights into what they offer.

continue reading…

February 19, 2015

End Of American Empire: De-Dollarization Will Isolate The US

Post by TDV Editor-In-Chief, Jeff Berwick

The end of the American empire is happening before our very eyes and it is astonishing how, among the preponderance of information, people still do not see the writing on the wall. Every day I am seeing stories that I consider signs of The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI).

In the Snowden leaks we learned that the NSA was spying on the SWIFT payment system, which led to Russia, and other nations, to develop their own alternative to the SWIFT system.

continue reading…

The Dollar Vigilante is a free-market financial newsletter focused on covering all aspects of the ongoing financial collapse. The newsletter has news, information and analysis on investments for safety and for profit during the collapse including investments in gold, silver, energy and agriculture commodities and publicly traded stocks. As well, the newsletter covers other aspects including expatriation, both financially and physically and news and info on health, safety and other ways to survive the coming collapse of the US Dollar safely and comfortably. You can sign up to receive our FREE monthly newsletter, our Basic Newsletter ($15/month) or our Full Newsletter ($25/month) with specific stock recommendations and updates at our Subscriptions page on our website at DollarVigilante.com.


Source: https://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2015/2/22/blockchain-girl-janina-lowisz-on-the-blockchain-id-citizensh.html#6770


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.