Interview with a father who made his daughter the first person to have a birth certificate on the blockchain

Last week, San Francisco entrepreneur Santiago Siri celebrated the birth of his baby daughter, Roma, in a rather different way — by registering her birthday on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Doing so seems like a natural step for Siri, who has long been interested in decentralization and blockchain technology and is currently working on blockchain projects with Pia Mancini (Roma’s mother) through his website democracy.earth.

After meeting Ryan Shea, co-founder of identity protocol startup OneName, Siri decided to record Roma’s birth on the blockchain — a decentralized database outside the control of any government, which Siri was excited about.

He told CoinDesk:

“From the beginning to now, the database of human birth has been based on government databases. Roma is the first exception, her identity is registered on the blockchain first and not anywhere else, which is a powerful statement, declaring that she is a citizen of the earth and not some arbitrary territory controlled by a centralized power.”

“It’s her first birth certificate, and because it’s a simple piece of data that can always be proven anywhere there’s an internet connection, politically, that’s incredibly powerful if you think about it. While governments rely on closed bureaucracies to back up the trust of their institutions, the world relies on the internet and blockchain.”

Registration date of birth

Siri’s family was not surprised by her father’s move, who is fascinated by blockchain technology, and they supported his idea of ​​registering Roma’s birthday on the blockchain.

Siri says:

“Those close to me know that I am passionate about blockchain and democratizing technology. My family may think I am a little crazy, but when I ask Pia for her advice, she gives me her full support.”

"She is also a firm believer that the revolutionary impact of the Internet wave will last for generations."

To register the birth, Siri first filmed a video stating the full name, date and location of the baby's birth, which was then hashed on the blockchain using a blockchain proof-of-existence confirmation service. In doing so, Siri ensured that the document was confirmed and validated by Bitcoin's mining network, a public ledger maintained by a global network of computers.

For further verification, Siri also added his testimony, which also included the testimony of Roma's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Further proof was provided in the form of a hospital birth certificate, although in the video Siri specifically states the birthplace was San Francisco, without mentioning a nation-state or a specific geographic location or jurisdiction.

He also showed screenshots of mined blocks on the corresponding blockchain.

"No one can challenge that this document was taken before Sunday, November 8, nor can anyone modify its contents without changing the certificate to make the events described in the document legal proof."

Fall in love with blockchain from the beginning

Siri discussed his interest in the technology, which began in 2011, and how it is affecting the world his daughter is growing up in.

“This technology is instantly appealing, especially to those living in countries like Argentina with high inflation and limited access to foreign exchange.”

These technologies, he said, have an inherently liberating power, helping users become independent agents or brokers:

[Bitcoin and blockchain] are permissionless and can connect anyone to a financial system that is not controlled by governments and banks. In my opinion, what the Internet did to media and culture, blockchain will do to institutions and human organizations.

Siri said he has seen from experience how active this emerging technology is in his native South America.

Like his colleagues, the entrepreneur explained that he believes the biggest potential for blockchain and Bitcoin is in developing countries, where an alternative system to the status quo is urgently needed.

Siri said he is closely connected to the blockchain and decentralized communities in the San Francisco area, but he cautioned that the technology still has a long way to go before it can truly reach its potential.

“Developing these types of applications is nontrivial, but it still feels like [there are] only a few people working on this extremely innovative technology, and there’s no doubt we’re in the early days of that.”

Identity verification on the blockchain

The potential of blockchain in identity registration has been a focus in the past, with companies in the industry working on its applications.

ShoCard — which recently raised $1.5 million in funding — is looking to leverage blockchain technology for identity management.

OneName, an open source identity protocol provider, has received seed funding from investors including Barry Silbert and San Francisco-based investment firm SV Angel, and is also working to transform the way identities are managed online.

Furthermore, the possibility of using a decentralized ledger to register identity has also attracted the attention of celebrities such as Hollywood actor Lucy Liu, who was revealed to be a surprising advocate during the Private Blockchain Summit held on billionaire Richard Branson’s private island earlier this year.

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/meet-the-dad-who-registered-his-daughters-birth-on-the-blockchain/
By Yessi Bello Perez
Translator: Orange
Reward address: 1FCiRAuQYUqMzyy7XHueLs5SCRzd11P6kj
Editor: printemps
Source (Translator): Babbitt Information