Accenture, in collaboration with Microsoft and Avanade, has developed a blockchain-based identity prototype that aims to empower individuals with direct consent over who has access to their personal information, and when to release and share data.

The prototype project was led by the multi-disciplinary team at Accenture’s new research and incubation hub in Ireland ‘The Dock’. The digital identity program is aimed at supporting ID2020 – a global public-private partnership dedicated to solving the challenges of identity faced by over 1.1 billion people globally. ID2020 seeks to make digital identity a reality through a technology-forward approach that will leverage secure and well-established systems.

Accenture and Microsoft – founding alliance partners of ID2020 – demonstrated the prototype on Monday at the ID2020 Summit at the U.N. The prototype builds on Accenture’s blockchain capabilities and its experience developing and deploying large-scale biometric systems. It runs on Microsoft’s cloud platform ‘Azure’ that offers global scale, flexibility and security. The prototype is a sophisticated decentralized database architecture, maintained by multiple, trusted parties on the blockchain, removing the need for a central authority.

“People without a documented identity suffer by being excluded from modern society,” said David Treat, a managing director in Accenture’s global blockchain business. “Our prototype is personal, private and portable, empowering individuals to access and share appropriate information when convenient and without the worry of using or losing paper documentation.”

Importantly, the prototype does not store any personally identifiable information and is designed to interoperate with existing identity systems so that personally identifiable information always resides “off chain”. It aligns to principles of the Decentralized Identity Foundation and uses the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance’s private, or “permissioned,” blockchain protocol.

In its official release, Accenture said that it will leverage its Unique Identity Service Platform to deploy a breakthrough biometrics system that can manage fingerprints, iris and other data. It explained that the technology can provide undocumented refugees with a steadfast personal identity record, ensuring that they can receive assistance where and when they need it.

The Accenture Platform is the heart of the Biometric Identity Management System currently used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which has enrolled over 1.3 million refugees in 29 countries across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. The system is expected to support more than 7 million refugees from 75 countries by 2020.

“We believe that identity is one of the most important needs in international development and an area where Microsoft and the private sector are uniquely positioned to contribute,” said Yorke Rhodes, global business strategist at Microsoft. “We are thrilled to work with Accenture and bring Microsoft Azure’s global scale, flexibility and security to support ID2020 and make progress on this critical societal need.”