Spanish banks lead development of blockchain-based digital ID model

Ten leading Spanish companies - including Santander, Libra Bank, Bankia, Caixa Bank, and BME - are planning to roll out a self-managed digital identity model using blockchain technology.

The project, known as Dalion, has completed the concept test, leading to a second phase round of development and testing with the aim of rolling out the product in a live production environment in May 2021.

Self-managed identity enables people to have their personal data in a single digital identity, backed by the companies involved and stored on their own mobile device. Users may decide who to share the data with at any time with no need to fill in tedious forms. For example, they may use their data validated by other organisations to hire a car, take out insurance or arrange a loan in just a few clicks.

The project is based on the Alastria digital identity model, which uses Ethereum and Quorum blockcain infrastructure to handle the transfer of user IDs between the participating organisations. Alastria is a multi-sector Spanish consortium, composed of 600 partners including large companies, SMEs, public authorities and academic institutions.