CIVIC
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Executive Summary
CIVIC is a personal data app to store encrypted ID information on a mobile device where only the user decides who this data is shared with.
The app is a live working product available for download that can function as a single sign on for websites and apps. It will also soon enable a personal data KYC (Know Your Customer) sharing functionality that always requires a user's permission to access. The app data is secured by the bitcoin blockchain and they also have a secure native token built on the Ethereum blockchain. This token is a smart contract that will act as a currency within the data ecosystem and is also called CIVIC (CVC).
If CIVIC achieves its ultimate goal of being part of the underlying identification layer for the internet then it could inflict revolutionary change. Incentivising the use of a verified identity on the internet can solve so many of today's existing problems including Spam, Fake Reviews, Trolling and information reliability. CIVIC also enables end users to control their own data, as opposed to it being centrally stored on a database. CIVIC's future is creating a Know Your Customer marketplace that could save users time when signing up for new online services that require customers identification.
What problems can CIVIC solve?
Spam
Much of the spam and unnecessary noise on the internet is the result of it's anonymity. This is fine and helps nurture innovation, but if you could opt-in to receive information or messages from 'verified' individuals then a considerable amount of time could be saved. This is because you could choose who to filter and trust in public forums. If CIVIC was part of this solution on the internet then it would achieve enormous success. We could also see another level of innovation being enabled. It could help personal, business or even pre programmed (e.g. AI) economic decisions being made quicker and in real time for the benefit of society as a whole. Too much time on the internet is spent manually filtering through spam and CIVIC could help reduce this wastage. Any useful technology that saves time and cost will always be adopted and gain widespread appeal. This is even true if the useful technology only saves a few seconds from a certain task.
Fake Accounts / Reviews / Tickets
Fake accounts are a big problem on the internet and it's something that seems to be proliferating with the explosion in social media. It is clear that fake accounts are used in social media to steer a particular narrative or political agenda. Fake accounts on Twitter are becoming a big issue, especially in the Bitcoin and Crypto space. Filtering out fake accounts of faceless anonymous trolls could significantly improve the overall user experience and even deter bad actors from creating fake accounts. Although an identity system will never solve every problem, it could deter this kind of foul play.
Online Reviews
Another big problem with fake accounts is review sites like Tripadvisor, where rival hotels or businesses will fabricate reviews to bad mouth their competition. This means that the reviews on Tripadvisor can be difficult to rely on. Indeed the top rated services in a certain category are not always the best experience. Again, if it was possible to filter out unverified or certain reviews then you could save a considerable amount of time and potentially have more accurate information. This is an area outside of Crypto where CIVIC could provide some serious value. An additional idea is if CIVIC could capture people's tastes and income bracket, which could really improve filtering out less relevant reviews for users and add perspective. After all, an expensive restaurant is less likely to get a good review from someone with less disposable income.CIVIC could also help with live events when organisers issue and allow re-sale of tickets. There are indeed a number of other crypto projects looking at event ticketing on the blockchain ( e.g. Aventus). Such projects would be best advised to look into CIVIC as a potential identity layer as opposed to building out any proprietary KYC solution.
Centralised Data
CIVC user data is not held on a centralised database and is instead secured cryptographically on the users device only. The end user then has to give permission for that data to be shared with any data requestor. This avoids centralised data issues that all companies face. This has been the cause of some serious data breaches in recent years (e.g. Equifax and Uber). Most companies store users personal information on insecure centralised databases that are a honeypot with an economic incentive to hack. This is a massive use case for CIVIC to help resolve. The more hacking that happens, the sooner consumers will start switching to services that adopt decentralised data applications such as CIVIC.
CVC Token for KYC Marketplace
The CIVIC token will be the payment currency for their decentralised KYC data marketplace. So when you perform identity confirmation with one service provider requiring KYC ID (e.g. a crypto exchange or bank) this data could then be securely shared to another company service provider (always with the users permission). This could save considerable time and cost for users and service providers. It also means that KYC Identification service companies can monetise their KYC efforts. KYC is costly and time consuming for businesses and is a big increasing burden for financial institutions. Therefore if CIVIC can execute effectively on this KYC Marketplace and achieve widespread adoption it would become a truly unique service adding real value to the CIVIC (CVC) tokens. These CIVIC 'Smart Contract' tokens would become a useful currency that is part of a thriving identity ecosystem. These tokens could even be programmed to do more in future such as profit sharing, governance or enable community participation.
Team and Development
CIVIC is backed by Vinny Lingham, a proven winner in business and also well known in the Crypto space. His business record stands for itself and he heads a growing development team working towards realising CIVIC's full potential. Vinny has openly admitted that CIVIC receives more partnership enquiries per day than they can handle. The CIVIC team appear to have first mover advantage in the crypto identity space, which is an enormous opportunity. However because of this there is inevitably some competition hot on their heels.
Competition
The closest competition appears to be Air Sphere and Airbitz (Now Edge Secure) who are partnering on ID services with the Airbitz single sign on 'Edge Secure' product. Although Edge Secure is a well developed sign sign on product, it's unclear on the real progress over at Air Sphere. It's clear they are not as high profile and developed as CIVIC. The more serious competition comes from Blockstack, which is essentially trying to recreate the entire internet with identity services at its core. Blockstack's launch appears to be at least a year away so CIVIC's product will likely be released and have some adoption by then. Blockstack will be playing catch up but will provide healthy competition by the time of their launch.
Conclusion
If CIVIC achieves its ultimate goals it can truly become groundbreaking and inflict revolutionary change. CIVIC (CVC) is a limited supply token that should gain considerable value if the whole platform is an enormous success. This means that CIVIC (CVC) has a very good chance of being a great long term investment. Identity is one of the biggest opportunities on the internet right now and CIVIC's competition is playing catch up.