Melbourne-based ShareRing has been tapped as the first digital identity provider to begin testing its tech for the Australian government's US$4 million verification technology trials approved late last year to enforce social media restrictions for underage users.

The blockchain firm will launch a pilot program with school students in Darwin, testing its self-sovereign identity platform that allows users to safely and securely provide age verification while keeping control of their personal data.

Trials are set to begin next week as Australia looks to implement new legislation by December, banning children under 16 from creating social media accounts, with platforms facing fines up to US$30.7 million for non-compliance.

ShareRing’s use of reusable digital IDs helps address privacy concerns from Australians who have voiced against the risk of ID theft in government-run databases. Those concerns have been around since last year when the legislation was approved for trial.

The tech “eliminates the need for repetitive verification while maintaining instant trustless verification and a privacy-first approach,” Tim Bos, ShareRing’s founder and chief technology officer, told Decrypt.

Unlike conventional centralized identity systems, ShareRing’s blockchain-based tech helps remove potential single points of failure or data breach risks if only one entity, such as a government, has control of the data.

It allows users to verify their age without uploading personal documents, instead sharing only cryptographic proof, keeping data in the user’s control, and reducing exposure to breaches from nefarious, would-be hackers.

Built on the Cosmos SDK, ShareRing’s tech provides a way to create custom blockchains, in this case for use in helping screen out age-inappropriate content on social media platforms by verifying users, without necessarily exposing their personal information.

Using Tendermint, a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, ShareRing can process registrations with efficiency while also allowing it to connect to other blockchains.

The company claims it has secured accreditation under the UK's Digital Identities and Attributes Trust Framework and joined Select ID, the UK's first Reusable Digital ID Network for financial services.

Trials for Australia are being led by Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), an independent assessment consortium. ACCS will check age verification technologies before the social media restrictions take full effect within the year.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair