Facebook, Google or Apple: all of these companies happily use our personal information for financial purposes. However, it has unfortunately become common to use these services to identify ourselves through the web, allowing these companies to collect even more personal information.
Sign-in with Ethereum: the alternative to GAFAM
Here is a situation that everyone has faced on the Internet. You discover a new website on which you want to sign up. However, you don’t want to proceed to a complete registration, by filling in your e-mail and other information. So you choose to sign in via your Facebook account.
Although this may not seem like a big deal, it allows Facebook to record a little more information about you. This allows them to know your centers of interest to better target the ads that are displayed on the site, thereafter.
Obviously, developers in the crypto ecosystem have been looking for a solution to this problem of centralization around GAFAM’s login services.
On September 13, Spruce, a company made up of former Consensys employees, announced it was starting work on a new service. Called “Sign-in With Ethereum,” it allows users to connect to third-party applications, using an Ethereum wallet as an account.
The main advantage of this service is to protect the privacy of the user. Indeed, by registering the user reveals only his Ethereum wallet. Thereafter, it is up to him to choose the information he wants to share with the site on which he is connected.
“The security of these wallets has been proven on billions of dollars of digital assets at stake – not theoretical security, but actual production testing. These secure wallets can also be used to connect to Web2 services.
Spruce announcement
A project funded by the Ethereum Foundation
This project follows a kind of tender, published three months ago now by the Ethereum Foundation and True Names LTD, the company behind the Ethereum Name Service (ENS). The tender concerned the development of an authentication solution using Ethereum wallets.
After deliberation, the proposal made by Spruce was selected by the Ethereum Foundation and ENS. To realize this new product, Spurce will benefit from grants recoverable in fiat currencies or in ETH. Spurce has reportedly already started working on the study and realization of this project. The company will build on existing solutions to develop a standard that can be used throughout Web 3.0.
Anyway, let’s hope that such a connection will not require sending a transaction. Indeed, Ethereum is currently facing major congestion problems causing transaction fees to rise.
