For decades we've assumed that the way to establish trust is to exchange more information.
Need to verify a customer? Request more documents.
Need to reduce fraud? Collect more personal data.
Need greater confidence? Build another database.
The result is predictable.
More copies. More storage. More privacy obligations. More risk.
Perhaps we've been solving the wrong problem? The goal is not to move more personal information between organisations and increase risk.
The goal is to reduce unnecessary disclosure by allowing organisations to verify what they need to know without exposing everything they don't. To reduce risk and enhance economic activity.
Those are fundamentally different approaches.
Most organisations don't actually need the underlying data, or the risk that comes with holding more personal information. They need confidence in the answer and in the trust decision they are making.
A bank may need to know that a phone number belongs to its customer. It doesn't need access to every detail the mobile operator holds.
An insurer may need confirmation that a driver's licence is valid. It doesn't need a complete government record.
A business may need to know that a customer is over eighteen. It doesn't need their date of birth.
Verification is more valuable than disclosure and provides for:
Less data exchanged means fewer copies to protect.
Less information to secure.
Less exposure when systems are compromised.
Better privacy.
Lower cost.
Greater trust.
Trust Infrastructure is not about sharing more information. It is about sharing greater confidence with less disclosure.
This process is better for every organisation. Better for regulators and better for individuals.
Trust precedes transaction.
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